The greatest gift you can give someone is to shove them over the wall.
I remember the exact moment this happened to me.
I was twenty-two years old.
I was finishing the manuscript for my first book.
I was working full time as a furniture salesman to make ends meet.
I got a call from the president of a local Rotary Club. He asked if I could come give a speech to his group. Being just out of college, I replied, “What the hell is a Rotary Club?”
I reluctantly agreed.
By the time I was finished, I’d never sweat more in my life. My hands trembled as I clenched the ten pages of notes that I never even looked at once.
But when I asked if there were any questions, a ninety-year-old retired surgeon named Harold raised his hand.
“Scott, do you have a job?”
“I sell couches.”
They thought that was hilarious.
Not a laugh line.
After we adjourned, Harold pulled me aside and said a four-letter word:
“Quit.”
That was a gift. A shove moment. An interaction that made my path brighter.
So I took his advice and never looked back.
Sometimes we need people to shove us.
To help us see something we’re too close to ourselves to notice.
To applaud our risk, elevate our hope and provoke our decision.
To believe in us more than we believe in ourselves.
To shove people is to love people.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Who have you shoved this week?
LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For a list called, “9 Things Every Writer Needs to Do Every Day,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!
* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]
“After investing in your mentoring program, I’ve become centered on who I am and what I have to offer. Now, I am attracting clients I want to work with. Life is great and I just wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
–Melanie Jatsek, Diet Busters
Rent Scott’s brain today.
