Now I do not mean, put yourself first, middle and last and then think about other people who might cross your path. Just that if you want to help more people, you have to become "more" of a person yourself.

But what does that mean?

Well if you earn a lot of money, you can give a fair bit away. Whilst that is one way of helping people, it's perhaps not the be all and end all of living life.

Personally I feel that by doing the best you can do, at all times, you will inspire others to do their part. And isn't that one of the best ways you can help someone else? Inspiring them to do more, be more, achieve more.

Say for example you own a car dealership. You have a couple of employees who work for you on the showroom floor, and a couple of people who work in the office processing paperwork, answering phones and inquiries.

Imagine that every day you get to work, tired, late, untidy and hung over (ok we are going for maximum overkill on this example) You expect your employees to open up the shop and hose down the cars and get them ready for inspection. The girl answering the phone is filing her nails and chewing gum as she stares listlessly at the screen. The showroom staff members are talking amongst themselves unaware that a potential customer has just walked onto the forecourt, the clothes they have chosen to wear that morning are a little wrinkled from lying on the ground overnight and the shoes haven't seen a polishing brush in months.

Translate that scenario into virtually every business in every country, and with a few exceptions, you will find this scene being played out.

The few exceptions are those people who work on themselves every single day. They have a reasonable amount of sleep at night (lets face it, who really gets 8 hours every day), they've kept up their exercise routine and their waistlines down, they've made sure they've eaten breakfast (coffee and bagels don't really count), the clothes are cleaned, pressed and worn with a certain panache, they look the part and they are going to play it. They have confidence that when they walk into work the next morning, they will usually be one of the first there and be ready for the phones when they start to ring when the office opens....or in some cases, before the office opens. Meetings are scheduled in advance and projects and goals worked out. They know where they are going and what they need to do in order to get there.

And you know what, most of the time, their employees are exactly the same.

So, take a good look around your workplaces today. Are you helping others to help themselves? Are you setting a good example or a bad one? Do you need to work on you just a little bit more today so that you can be even better tomorrow?

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"Be at peace and see a clear pattern running through your lives. Nothing is by chance." Eileen Caddy
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