The founder of UnstoppableMe, Miguel Abascal, once said:
If you feel depressed, go help someone and it’ll go away.
If you feel happy, go help someone and it’ll multiply.
If you feel failure, go help someone and you’ll discover many treasures.
If you feel successful, go help someone and you’ll find significance.
If you feel you don’t have anything to offer, go help someone and you’ll find in that one ‘Thank You’ how something so small can change a person’s life.
When I read this quote for the first time I wondered, how can I go help someone when I’m at a low point??
But I’m lucky I learned how it works!
When I received a rejection email for a job that I really wanted, I was feeling very sad and emotionally drained. On the same day, I got an email from an acquaintance asking me to review her resume, so I thought I’d do it as a distraction from my negative feelings.
After revising the resume and giving her an entirely new version along with additional tips for her job search, I felt positive because I had helped someone and my day ended nicely. She thanked me profusely since no one had helped her before with concrete actions or advice.
It turns out that she was called for an interview two days after applying with her new resume!
She called me to express her appreciation again because up until that day she hadn’t gotten any interviews despite applying to multiple jobs. We chatted for some time about other ways to land a job (e.g. informational interviews, networking, volunteering) and I shared my job rejection story, thanking her for ‘distracting me’ from my feelings.
She was surprised that I chose to help her just on the day I was feeling so disappointed. So… I responded by mentioning Miguel’s quote above!
Thanks to this experience, I now believe that helping someone selflessly (whatever my situation or feelings) makes a positive impact on that person’s life, connects you in a meaningful way with that person, and makes the world a better place, one little step at a time.
Who are you going to help today?