Several months ago, before I came out to the Philippines, I had an interview with College Info Geek’s Thomas Frank. The full title of the podcast was “The Less-Traveled Road To Success With Vincent Nguyen.”
In the interview, I talked about how I got my first three internships, the benefits of Stoicism, and how I built relationships with influencers. I also mentioned how I reached out to dozens of entrepreneurs to ask them to record a video vouching for me, which eventually landed me in my dream job with the amazing guys at Empire Flippers.
You can listen to the podcast here.
I’m not trying to brag and say, “Look at how awesome I am,” but something extraordinary happened that I just have to share.
Someone who listened to the interview left the following comment:
“I saw this post a few months ago and I decided that I should try sending some emails to people that I really wanted to work for. As of last night, I was hired by someone that I emailed and in January I’ll work at a job I couldn’t be more thrilled to begin. Thanks for the inspiration!”
Holy freaking crap!
You know, sometimes we forget that the things we do in our lives can have a significant impact on another person. It happens when we least expect it and it can be the craziest thing that sets off a chain of events.
For example, one of my best friends once casually told me, “You’re really profound, Vincent,” when I was droning on about how much I sucked.
Those words sunk in and changed everything. Suddenly, I started valuing myself and began to see the bright side of everything. That simple statement was the tipping point for change in my life and I don’t know if he even remembers ever saying that.
You don’t have to be a critically acclaimed author who sells millions of copies of your work in order to have a voice.
You don’t need to be a presenter that gets in front of a sold out crowd months on end to have influence.
You definitely don’t need to have tons of money to make a difference in someone’s life.
Instead of focusing on impacting millions, take it one at a time. Treat the people around you with the utmost respect. Help others when they need it and don’t expect anything in return.
It’s almost Christmas time so I’ll keep this post short (the shortest I’ve ever published.)
Make someone’s day/week/month/life on a daily basis in everything you do.
Keep being a kind person and you’ll impact someone out there. You probably already have.
Merry Christmas.
Photo Credit: Kylan Robinson – Flickr
It is just fun bringing smiles on other people’s face. I just bought a dress for one little girl as her Christmas present and the interesting thing is that, even though she is just 7 month old, she beamed with smiles when I showed her the dress.
That is just the beauty of life!
Freaking adorable!
That’s awesome, and what a great way to approach anything. Hopefully I can impact someone’s life in a similar way at some point. Happy holidays man, hope you have a great one!
You probably already have. I was talking to a friend this summer about this site. I mentioned that someone I know was impacted by my advice and I wondered to her if I had impacted others before.
She made an observation that changed the way I viewed it. She basically told me that most people aren’t vocal. Only a small percentage of a small percentage would tell you that you changed them forever. The real amount of people you’ve touched are probably a much more staggering number than you can even imagine.
And you don’t have to wait for the right time to make a difference in someone’s life. Merry Christmas Vincent!
Merry Christmas, Aqilah!
Where there was once a void you have now entered through creation sparked by the only true existence, love. There is no doubt that you have and will have blessed many in your days. Bless you Vincent. Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas!
Thanks and Merry Christmas, Nick!
This is so true, Vincent. I always say that I love getting up each day because I never know what or who it’s going to bring my way. The best is when you’re having a bad day and then something great happens out of the blue to make your day. Keep inspiring Vincent, and, Merry Xmas!
That feeling where someone/something makes up for a bad day is great! Merry Xmas!
What a beautiful post, Vincent. I am so happy that your words affected that person and good things happened because he/she then took action. Wow.
I hope all is going well for you in the Philippines!
Things are going great over here! Merry Christmas to both you and CJ. 🙂
Feels good to have such an impact on someone huh? I think a lot of people would like to impact someone greatly or at a large scale but somehow many don’t want to start with the small and easy things.
It’s a beautiful post by the way. Short but enough to be impactful! Who knows, upon hearing that comment, someone else has already done the same thing again!
Maybe! But I don’t think we have to do anything major to impact someone. Just say hi to someone the next time you’re out.
Merry Christmas Vincent. And Happy Holidaze. Sometimes it takes years to learn that we have had positive impacts on the lives of others. As Longfellow concluded his poem: “A Psalm of Life”: Let us then be up and doing / with a heart for any fate. / Still achieving, still pursuing / Learn to labor and to wait.:
Just keep doing your best… and know that as the years go by, your positive influence will shine in the lives of others.
Merry Christmas, Bob!
Good post Vincent. This post was very syncronous to what I wrote in my commonplace yesterday. I’ve been getting a lot of comments/emails lately about people saying similar things.
It’s pretty powerful what it does to you when you feel that you actually have influence in other people’s life – that you ARE making a difference.
Thanks, Lutvig. Hoping this moves people to inspire others on a micro level.
It would be nice if everything you did turns out positive but alas it is not always so.
Of course! Everything has a consequence and sometimes they’ll be bad, but we shouldn’t let that thought discourage us.
“…one of my best friends once casually told me, “You’re really profound, Vincent,” when I was droning on about how much I sucked.”
Isn’t that the way it works? We block ourselves from our own greatness with dumbass self talk. Glad you recognized it, Vincent!
More importantly, I’m glad my friend cut me off and said what he did. I don’t think I would have saw it on my own. 🙂
That’s awesome!! And it’s important to remember that about how your negativity can impact people as well.
Beautiful post! Helping someone and making an impact on them is one of the greatest gift that one can give to others. It feels good to see when someone smiles because of us.
Well… What if you are kind but other people take advantage of you?
Then cut them out. You don’t need negative anchors in your life. You shouldn’t sacrifice your own self-esteem and happiness so others can walk all over you. Be kind when you can, but get out when there’s no mutual respect.