Driven to help others

Photo: Thinkstock.com - Mike Kiev

A friend of mine recently suggested I take a look at a new movie, Slingshot, on Netflix.

Slingshot is a peek into the life of a fascinating man, a genius by any definition. 

Dean Kamen was the guy who invented the Segway - that strange looking two-wheeled scooter that never really took off.

Apparently Dean did take off - right over a cliff on one of his Segways - and died. At least, that is the rumour. Clearly by this documentary, you will find that Dean is alive and kicking, and making a remarkable impact on the world.

He has spent several years inventing and solving a distribution problem for a machine that can create clean, safe water, using very little energy, and with no buttons to press.

Take a look at the show, and you will see exactly what Dean has done to impact the world.

It struck me that a person can be so much more engaged with life when they are concerned about the lives of others. At the recent TedX event in Kelowna, I was speaking to one of the other speakers backstage, who explained that her husband truly thrives when he is in an impoverished location helping the local community. It is something to which I can personally relate 100%.

You see, people come to life when they are in a position of having something to give - whether it is a talent, resources, love, or money. 

So the question that ran through my mind is why, as a keynote speaker, do I go back to events and witness the very same people who were there the year before, still yearning for inspiration?

I think inspiration is the biggest commodity on the planet, there appears to be an insatiable appetite for it. So, how do we truly inspire people to be motivated?

I believe it starts with taking our eyes off ourselves. 

You see, if we have both arms full of our own baggage we are carrying, then we cannot give someone else a hand up.

It is simple. You will see in the documentary that Dean is completely focussed on helping others. In the process, he has helped himself, and lives in a pretty nice home with a personal helicopter and executive jet. You never hear him talk about money, though, and I suspect life never was about money for him.

So perhaps this week, take whatever junk you are carrying around, put it down for a day or two, and, with your free hands, reach out to see what you can do to help someone else. You never know, you might forget about some of your own problems, or at least they might seems a little less important once you discover others living with larger challenges.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.