One Thought. Seven Reflections. One Question to Carry Into Your Week.
I’ve been thinking about the people who changed my life.
Teachers.
Coaches.
Family members.
Friends.
Mentors.
Leaders.
Some were part of my life for years.
Others were there for only a season.
But when I think about the people who left the deepest impression, I realize something interesting:
Very few of them were trying to impress me.
They weren’t the loudest people in the room.
They didn’t spend much time telling me what they’d accomplished.
They weren’t concerned with making sure everyone knew how important they were.
They simply showed up.
They listened.
They encouraged.
They challenged.
They noticed.
And sometimes, they believed something about me that I hadn’t learned to believe about myself yet.
Years later, I may not remember everything they said.
But I remember how different I became because they were there.
Maybe that’s what real influence looks like.
The people who change our lives rarely do it by trying to be impressive. They do it by being present.
Here are seven things those people have taught me.
1. They Saw Me
There’s a difference between being noticed and being seen.
Being noticed is someone knowing you’re in the room.
Being seen is someone recognizing that something inside you matters.
The best leaders I’ve known have an unusual ability to do this.
They remember your name.
They notice when you’re unusually quiet.
They ask how you’re doing—and wait long enough to hear the real answer.
They see potential before there’s much evidence of it.
We live in a world where everyone wants attention.
Maybe one of the greatest gifts we can give someone is ours.
Sometimes influence begins with simply making another person feel seen.
2. They Asked More Questions Than They Answered
I’ve met plenty of smart people who were eager to tell me what they knew.
The people who helped me grow the most often did something different.
They asked questions.
“What do you think?”
“What are you afraid of?”
“Why does this matter to you?”
“What would you do differently?”
“Who do you want to become?”
They didn’t always give me directions.
They helped me develop a compass.
There’s an important difference.
Directions tell you where to go once.
A compass helps you find your way for the rest of your life.
Great mentors don’t create followers. They develop thinkers.
3. They Believed in Me Before I Completely Believed in Myself
Almost everyone has someone like this.
A teacher who saw ability.
A coach who saw potential.
A leader who trusted you with something you weren’t completely sure you were ready for.
A parent who kept believing when your confidence disappeared.
Sometimes another person’s belief becomes the bridge to our own.
Think about how powerful five simple words can be:
“I see something in you.”
Those words don’t cost anything.
But spoken at the right time, they can change the direction of someone’s life.
Which makes me wonder:
How many people around us are waiting for someone to see something in them?
4. They Told Me the Truth
Not everyone who encourages you loves you.
And not everyone who challenges you is against you.
It took me a while to understand that.
Some of the people who have influenced me most were willing to tell me things I didn’t necessarily want to hear.
“You were wrong.”
“You need to apologize.”
“You’re capable of more than this.”
“You’re making excuses.”
“That’s not who you are.”
Those conversations weren’t always comfortable.
But comfort isn’t always the goal.
Growth is.
Truth without relationship can feel like judgment.
But truth delivered by someone who has consistently demonstrated that they care can become transformation.
The right people don’t just celebrate who you are. They challenge you toward who you can become.
5. They Showed Up
Presence may be one of the most underrated forms of love.
The game.
The graduation.
The hospital.
The funeral.
The difficult meeting.
The celebration.
The phone call at the wrong time.
Sometimes there are no perfect words.
Sometimes there isn’t anything to fix.
You simply show up.
And years later, people may forget exactly what you said.
But they rarely forget that you came.
I’ve learned that being present often matters more than being profound.
You don’t always have to know what to say. Sometimes you just need to be there.
6. They Opened Doors
Encouragement matters.
But opportunity can change the trajectory of a life.
Someone hired you.
Recommended you.
Introduced you.
Promoted you.
Invited you into a room you didn’t have access to before.
Gave you responsibility before you were completely ready.
At some point, most of us benefited because somebody decided to open a door.
The question becomes:
What are we doing with the doors we’ve been given?
Success can’t only be about how many doors we walk through.
At some point, it should become about how many doors open for others because we were there.
That’s one of the differences between achievement and legacy.
Achievement asks, “How far did I go?”
Legacy asks, “Who went farther because I helped?”
7. They Probably Don’t Know What They Did
This might be the one I’ve thought about the most.
Some of the people who changed my life probably have no idea they did.
They don’t remember the conversation.
They don’t remember the encouragement.
They don’t remember introducing me to someone.
They don’t remember taking five extra minutes.
To them, it may have been an ordinary Tuesday.
To me, it mattered.
And that makes me wonder about all of us.
How many moments have we already had that mattered more than we realized?
How many people remember something we said that we’ve completely forgotten?
How many lives are slightly different because we decided to stop, listen, encourage, challenge or believe?
Maybe influence isn’t always something we intentionally build.
Sometimes it’s simply the residue of how we consistently treat people.
And perhaps that’s why the people who influence us most rarely seem impressive while they’re doing it.
They’re not performing.
They’re simply being who they are.
The Question I’m Carrying This Week
Whose life might be different because I took the time to notice them?
Not someday.
This week.
Maybe there’s someone around you who needs encouragement.
Someone who’s struggling quietly.
Someone who needs an opportunity.
Someone who needs to hear the truth.
Someone who needs five simple words:
“I see something in you.”
You don’t need a title.
You don’t need a platform.
You don’t need thousands of followers.
And you certainly don’t need to impress them.
You simply have to notice them.
This Week’s Challenge
Before this Sunday ends, think of one person who changed your life without realizing it.
Then tell them.
Send the text.
Make the call.
Write the note.
Don’t overthink it.
Just say:
“I’ve been thinking about the people who have influenced my life, and you were one of them. I’m not sure I’ve ever told you how much it meant to me. Thank you.”
Give people their flowers while they’re still here to receive them.
Then do one more thing.
Look around your life and ask:
Who needs me to become that person for them?
Because someday, someone may think back on one of the most important people in their life…
and remember you.
Not because you impressed them.
Because you saw them.
It’s You. It’s Your Life. It’s Your Story.
— Jarvis
Know Someone Who Needs This?
Someone probably came to mind while you were reading today’s Sunday Seven.
Don’t just think about them.
Send this to them with two words: “Thank you.”
And if someone forwarded this Sunday Seven to you, join us next Sunday for:
One Thought. Seven Reflections. One Question to Carry Into Your Week.
Join The Sunday Seven at What Is an Inspiration?
