Lifting Up

A graphic from the film Connected: A Film on Interdependence 2011 - Director Tiffany Shlain

My friend Mindy recently quit a secure corporate gig to follow her dream.  She holds a high personal value on beauty and creating more of it in everything she does. She also has a great love of community. Mindy’s unique expression of heart, passion and savvy business skills have come together in the form of a yarn shop.

At the Grand Opening celebration something she said struck me deeply.

In researching for the shop, Mindy and her co-creators visited other knitting stores in the area to see what they were offering.  Rather than replicate what her competitors were doing, Mindy looked at how she could build on what was already there.  Sound business practice and a smart strategy.

What has stayed with me is the way she talks about her vision of the shop as being complimentary to the other stores.  She is genuinely excited at the thought of lifting each other up; of supporting her sister yarn shops and being in service to knitters in the area – creating a community through the experience of her store.

The name of the shop says it all: A Yarn Less Raveled – a close-knit community.

A similar story came my way about two West Point cadets. After graduating from West Point they each embarked on their military careers and both achieved higher levels of success than any other graduates in their class.  What they did throughout their respective careers and wherever they were stationed was to continually talk each other up. Not only were they making their own mark, they made sure people knew about the gifts, talents and accomplishments of the other.

You can have everything in life you want if you just help enough people get what they want.  – Zig Ziglar

In both cases, they are not trying to crush the competition or dominate the market.  Their approaches are open hearted – grounded in generosity, abundance and creativity.

PRACTICE

Who can you lift up in your life?  Either directly or anonymously and without concern for what you might get out of it, practice appreciating others.  This is a particularly powerful practice when used for colleagues or people you might normally compete with.  Make sure it’s genuine.  There is no worth in false praise for the giver or receiver.