A Tin of Appreciation Flavoured Soup
I was speaking with an entrepreneur who told me a story I thought was worth sharing. It was about how he sees the world differently now after he became a part of a company with a positive impact. It captures a beautiful message that is so simple and yet very powerful.
Eric was one of the founders of a revolutionary digital braille reading brand for the visually impaired. Before he started this brand he wasn’t fully aware of all the challenges that blind people face. The company was created to solve a huge unmet problem that many blind readers endure. He explained that only 5% of books ever published are converted into braille! JUST 5% He went on to tell me that braille books are HUGE and very expensive. Eric’s former company created a solution for this, a small handheld device that replaces the heavy book. This device allows thousands of digital books to be easily converted into one simple device. The concept is remarkable and is already helping thousands of blind people around the world access the same resource we all have available to us.
But, what I found extra special was a story Eric told me about how working with this community changed the way he sees himself and the world. “Take a tin of soup for example,” he said, “when you pick up a tin of tomato soup, you think what flavour you want etc. You just look and then pick it up.” “Blind people cannot do this!” “Something so small is taken for granted.” “Now every time I am at the supermarket I feel so grateful for being able to just select what it is that I want just by looking.”
Have you ever had a realisation like that? Where you have been taking something for granted only to realise its a blessing? How did that show up for you
The energy of gratitude can push us through anything. Be it the growing pains of a startup, or the scaling pains of an already established business.
“How marvellous”, I thought to myself, when gratitude becomes an operative part of your life. Not something you try to add in. That degree of gratitude might never have existed for him had he not been a part of a business that was driven by more than profit.
This got me thinking about how the energy of gratitude can push us through anything. Be it the growing pains of a startup, or the scaling pains of an already established business.
Eric’s previous business continues to do well, winning many awards and winning investment along the way. Imagine how good it feels to not only win but to win for others too.
That’s what we all truly crave, deep down isn’t it?
That’s what this flavour of gratitude offers!
Bringing more gratitude and compassion into your business can make a huge difference to your wellbeing and your teams. But it’s even better than that. The ripple effect of kindness and gratitude spreads out into the families and communities that they are a part of. The payoff is priceless.
So don’t worry If your business doesn’t currently run a “for good” model. Simply by being more grateful, you become understanding and relatable to others. Doing this alone can go a long way to contributing to solving the problems in the world today.
It starts with you and ends with us all. That’s what Enlightened Leadership is all about, seeing past the obvious and going beyond the ordinary to Extra-Ordinary.
How can you use this idea today?
1. Think of the small perks you’ve gotten used to in your life that isn’t available to everybody in your team or community. Could you feel just 5% more grateful about that today?
2. How could you use your new-found gratitude to better understand your customer’s problems, and build a deeper connection?
3. Once you have done this think about what problems your clients might they be struggling with that you don’t yet know about? Then help to solve them.
Lift up, Light up, Be the change you wish to see
With love,
Ryan
