“#favorfriday. Friday is a good day to pay it forward. What can you do to help someone else in the community? If you want a favor, ask for it. I’d love to “like” your page, rate your podcast, review your book, give you feedback on your website or whatever would help you. Ask for a favor, give 2 favors to someone else.” Trajan King
On a favor Friday, Trajan King takes the sunshine off his business and seeks ways to help other entrepreneurs. He reviews their websites, if you ask him to like your page he will. On a favor Friday it’s not about Trajan it’s about others. Last week Friday evening, even I, had an incredible opportunity to join him him and others from the Invincible Startup Community on a video call through google hangouts. This an informal meeting where ideas are shared freely, questions are asked and Trajan gives advice on issues that could impact on business of new entrepreneurs. At this meeting you ask questions and you get all the help possible.
Before you start thinking Trajan King is just your ordinary guy, let me introduce him. Trajan King is the founder of Invincible Startup, where a community of entrepreneurs get training through video courses info-graphics, articles and instruction from successful entrepreneurs. He has been an entrepreneur himself since 1995 and has worked for big companies like Apple, eBay, Oracle, Honda and Yahoo (http://invinciblestartup.com/). Yet a man of his magnitude has time for little people. On the Friday of the video call, Trajan doesn’t even take the space to advertise what his business can do but focuses on what you can do. He empowers entrepreneurs who are at start of business on how to use tools that could benefit their business. When he talks you know you are in presence of greatness yet he is full of humility and makes you feel totally comfortable. On a favour Friday he mentions not his glories but helps you on how to become glorified. After talking to him he leaves you with that special feeling of growth and hope; hope that someone out there cares.
The truth is in many ways we are all just like Trajan, there is a longing somewhere deep within our hearts to do someone a favor and until we respond to that need, we will not have a sense of fulfillment. When we avail ourselves to others that is when we find our true significance.
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” Jackie Robinson
While I am at it, I think Trajan’s favor Friday reminds me of Good Friday. On Good Fridays if you are a Christian you will head to church, sing hallelujahs and praise and listen to colorful sermons which in itself is good. But may be the real reason for Good Friday is to do what Christ the Savior did, he favored human kind. He forgot about the miracles and super powers he had and made it about someone else. He made it about small people who couldn’t help themselves. Perhaps what we should be thinking more when the good Friday approaches is not our beautiful programs but our significance to others. Perhaps you could be a little concerned about the impacts you can make in the little person’s life; the person who says “what you can do I cant do myself.”
From Trajan’s favor Friday and the good Friday we can learn to
- Empower others
- Make time for a small man, look for the underdogs in your field and push them up
- Make our lives intentional
- Use our resources (it could be our knowledge or skill) to influence
“Success isn’t the goal; legacy is. Ultimately, we are called to call others; we are given gifts to be given away. All that to say: when you find yourself at the pinnacle of personal greatness, you may just be getting started.” Jeff Goins, The Art of Work Book
Conclusion
Someday I will look back and say, “Trajan was there when I took my first steps in online blogging.” Will you have the privilege of hearing someone say you were there when they authored their dreams.
Be there for someone when they are still very far from being big, believe in them and give them a chance. Go be someone else’s champion. Someone else’s dreams will only fly when you give them wings.