What Would You Do?

Recently, my wife told me about her friend who was driving through downtown San Diego when traffic unexpectedly backed up.

People were slowing down to gawk and take pictures of an older woman, who was standing in the middle of the road naked.  It was a cold day and she was shivering, clearly confused.

As many others passed, my wife’s friend stopped, ran into traffic, covered the woman with a beach towel she had in the back of her car, got her something warm to drink and got her to a safer location.  Finally, she called the authorities so they could ensure her safety and wellbeing.

Unfortunate But Common

What’s truly disturbing about the story above, is the fact that so many people chose to ignore or be amused by the poor woman’s situation.

The sad reality is that ambivalence, apathy and mediocrity have become not only common but accepted.  Doing nothing is the norm.

People are upset at the current political leadership, but choose not to vote.  They feel the economic system is rigged toward the super wealthy, but choose not to get involved in a movement to change things.  America is facing an obesity epidemic, but millions of people still choose television and junk food over a healthy diet and exercise.

The World Needs Exceptional People

Now more than ever, the world needs people committed to being exceptional.

Change will not come from a government program, or some miraculous event, but rather from those choosing to be an ideal that others can strive for.

Be The Example

Commit to the following time tested ideals and you will truly be an exceptional individual who makes a difference in the world you touch.

Vision

No matter where you are in your life, one thing is indisputable-you’ll never rise above your own vision for yourself.

Create a bold vision, and then spend the rest of your life trying to attain it.

If you’re working in the mailroom of a major company, envision yourself as the CEO.  If you’re just starting your online business, visualize running a $10 Million company.

Most important, picture yourself as someone others use as the standard of what a person should be in terms of relationships, actions and ethics.

Honesty

I’ve never met anyone who considers themselves “dishonest”.  In fact most people feel they are extremely honest.  However, when you “dig deeper” you’ll find that many people rationalize all kinds of dishonest acts:

• They lie to their friends and family because they “don’t want to hurt their feelings”
• If they’re undercharged at a restaurant, they look at it as the other person’s mistake, rather than an obligation to pay the correct amount
• They take every opportunity to “cheat” on their taxes because after all, “it’s their money and they earned it”

Here’s the real truth-Being truly honest takes an incredible amount of strength and courage.

Commit to total honesty, no matter what the situation, and you’ll be a person that others know they can always trust and believe in.

 Do Something

No one will ever know how many people drove by that naked shivering lady before my wife’s friend stopped, but that fact is a lot of people chose to do nothing.

If you see someone in need of help, or a situation that needs changing-take action.  It may be taking a CPR course so you can potentially save someone’s life, or getting involved in a political movement, but do something, anything.

Exceptional people don’t talk or ponder, they act.

Please note, I’m not talking about putting yourself in danger.  Taking action can be as simple as calling the authorities.

The point is to be the person that actually does something to make the situation better rather than just turning away or ridiculing.

Don’t Allow Others To Hold You Back

Keep this in mind: most people are average.  This means that when you start acting exceptional, others (potentially even friends and family) are going to try and hold you back.

People never like to have their mediocrity exposed; therefore, the easiest thing to do is try and hold others down instead of following the example.

Don’t allow people to hold you back.  Only by being an example can you show others the way.

Start Slow and Strive For Continuous Improvement

Change is hard.  Righteous change, is extremely hard.  Start slow and build momentum.  Pick one of the traits above and commit yourself to it until you’re ready to move to the next one.

You will continually improve yourself until one day, others will look to you for inspiration, courage and strength.

Angelo Lombardo is a Fortune 500 executive and Winery Academy faculty member.  Like his blogs?  Become an elite member and get access to his webinars.