Who Are The Most Influential People In Your Life?

Inspiration as an Art Form:

By Nicholas Grimshawe

Have you ever thought about the people who have been most influential in your life, other than your parents of course? When you think of the people who have had the biggest impact on your life is there a common thread the runs between them. What is the common thread?

I bet 99 times out of 100 you would say the common thread is help. The most influential people in your life are the ones that have helped you personally the most.

One of the first people to make a big impression on my life was my grade five teacher, Brian Davies.

Mr Davies stepped out of his roll as a teacher to personally help me in my dream to become a writer. He took the time out of his busy life to read my poetry and write critiques of my work. He managed to suggest better ways of expression without crushing my delicate ego. He praised and encouraged me. Even after I left his class, he continued to mentor me and follow up on my progress.

J Hunter Holly, (Joan Holly) wrote science fiction, something I was addicted to in my youth and a genre that I continue to enjoy. She took the time to answer one of my fan letters to her. Thus began a correspondence that continued until her death.

Again, someone took the time to help and guide me. She read my stories, offered suggestions and solutions to plot difficulties and found a way to prod me in the right direction. She often gave samples of how to re phrase a sentence or a paragraph, pointed to books to read to improve my proficiency, gave me lessons in plot development.

With her encouragement and persistence, she kept me writing even as the rejections slips came in one after the other. She taught me how to have a thick skin about those rejections as well.

A fellow named Tom stand out for his tireless efforts to teach me to be a better swimmer. He was a family friend who could have been doing just about anything else but who often spent several hour with me at the beach getting me over my fear of water and encouraging me to become a proficient swimmer. I wasn’t all that athletic so it must have been an uphill battle. Yet, he persisted and I persisted, because he made it fun, and never said anything negative about my abilities.

Bruce Wiggins, who as a friend and coach for the six months I lived in LA, helped me to grow and developed beyond anything I thought possible.

Today the most influential people in my life remain the people who go out of their way to offer me help and guidance.

Do this exercise.

Write down the 5 most influence people in your life, people you have actually meet, or corresponded with.

Under each name, write the reason they are on your list. Review the list and note how many reasons revolve around the word help.

The conclusion is inescapable. You are remembered and treasured by the people you have helped. By helping people to reach for their goals and dreams, you enhance your sense of self and your role in life.

As Zig Ziglar said, “You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”