What’s The One Thing You’d Change About Yourself? Here’s Mine

If I gave you a magic wand and you could wave it and change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Of course you might have many things you’d want to change. For my own part I’d be a bit fitter (I am working on it!). I’d be better at sharing things with other people as I can have a tendency to work alone too much (this post is a good chance to be better at sharing, I suppose!). I’d also be better at focusing on one thing, as sometimes I find that there are so many things I want to do, and so many things that I enjoy, that I get distracted. I am sure there are lots of other things but not many that would make a huge difference to my life.

There is however, one thing that I would change that I feel would make a huge difference: I would like to have more influence.

You might think ‘Well, you’re supposed to be The Influence Expert! If you don’t think you have influence, what are you up to creating a new business around the subject?’

But, it is precisely because I think influence is so important that I want to have more.

It is also why I have devoted myself to studying it as a subject, to learning from other experts in the area and by finding new and innovative ways that I will be able to help others have more influence over their lives and in the world.

If I had more influence, what are some of the things I would like to accomplish?

– Improving Board Diversity in charities across the world- leading to better, more thoughtful charity governance and exponentially increasing the impact they are able to have.

– Encouraging more people, especially young people, to see the nonprofit sector as a valid, aspirational and interesting career. Charities and social enterprises deal with society’s most pressing and difficult problems and support some of the most vulnerable people there are.

– Making people who bring social good into the world equal role models/as celebrated by society as footballers and pop stars. Or at least, even up the balance a bit!

In my own small way, I’m making a difference on all three of those issues (and there are many more things I work on and am passionate about).

But, I could do so much more, if I had more influence. If I can achieve the results I do with the Twitter following I have, what could I do if I had 1 million followers? If I can speak to more people about things I care about because I’ve been trying growing my influence thus far, how many could I reach if I made this a lifetime’s work?

Even if your ‘one thing’ seems nothing to do with influence, I ask you to consider if growing your influence would make it more likely that you would be able to achieve it? Influence is not all about high-level deals and powerful people, it is about the way in which we relate to each other and support each other. For example, whatever you want to achieve, following people that inspire you- either friends or peers who have a positive influence on you, or even just following inspirational people online, can make a real difference.

With more influence I could have a bigger impact on so many of the things that matter to me. I could lend support to all sorts of people and causes that I think deserve more attention, support and recognition.

Now, I don’t have a magic wand to lend you, but:

The Influence Expert, launched this week, may be able to help you. There is a sign up contest here where you can win a piece of free consulting from me to help you grow your influence.

I would love to hear your own ‘one thing’ you would like to change about yourself in the comments if you are able to share…