Don’t Miss Your Window of Influence
When I am driving to and from work, playing chauffeur to my family, or when working on tasks at my office desk, I enjoy listening to music.
I will either be listening to choir music to help me learn my part for songs we sing at church or will be listening to WOW 90.0 FM.
One day last week, I was driving and the radio host was providing three “nuggets of wisdom” based on his experience of being a dad.
I started listening after he had already shared his first nugget of wisdom, but was able to hear the second and third nuggets and they stuck with me throughout the week.
This was not only because I am a dad of three little girls and have daughter no. 4 on the way, but also because the implications of the nuggets of wisdom can go beyond my own household.
Your Window of Influence
We all have a window of influence and it is much smaller than we think.
The radio host talked about how, as a parent, he thought he would have 18 years of influence on his children.
In reality, for the first 5 years of their lives, he was really just trying to figure things out, not screw up, and pretty much everything they learned was forgotten pretty quickly.
Then, on the tail end of those 18 years, once the kids hit their teenage years, they didn’t want to take advice or listen to their parents as much anymore.
Overall, his window of influence was much shorter than he would have hoped. The same holds true for all parents, but also in other aspects of our lives.
We each have only a limited window to have a positive impact on people’s lives.
Sometimes people move away. Some pass away unexpectedly. Sometimes people just drift apart and miss out on opportunities to be a blessing to someone.
When you have an opportunity to make a positive impact, don’t let that window close because you thought you would be able to still make an impact further down the road.
Another unexpected aspect about the window of influence was that the window started at its peak and then waned over the years.
In early years of development, a parent is a child’s whole world.
That world grows and new members are added to their world over time, so in those early years, do your best to be a positive influence.
Don’t underestimate the impact you are having on a child and don’t miss out on the chance to make a huge impact.
You are Plan A
You are Plan A.
Don’t assume that there is a Plan B. Whatever role you plan in a person’s life, you are the only one of YOU in their life.
You are a part of someone’s world for a reason and can have a positive or negative impact in whatever role you play: coach, teacher, mentor, parent, friend, acquaintance.
When you have an opportunity to have a positive impact on someone’s life, you have to take that as a big responsibility.
You can’t always assume that there is another person that will come along and teach them that life lesson or help build them up.
That also goes into situations when you are asked to step up and take on a responsibility or a role.
You might be someone’s Plan A and they might not have time to find a Plan B, or they might not think of someone better to fill a role.
Don’t brush off the fact that someone might see potential for you to make a positive impact.
