Here is what you should do today. Encourage someone to do the things they want to do in life. It does not matter if it's your child, your spouse, a friend, a co-worker, whoever. I guarantee you will make someone's day by offering even a little encouragement.

Most of us are trained growing up that we can't do this or can't do that. Not only that, but we're trained to think others can't do anything special either. Only certain special people, or the "lucky ones" are ever able to accomplish amazing things. For some reason we have skepticism pounded into us from an early age.

I'll tell you, even if you think the person you are encouraging has no chance you should still offer positive encouragement to that person. You never know what someone is capable of until they try. I'm sure Bill Gates' parents loved him and wanted the best for their boy, but do you think they ever thought he would become the richest man on Earth? Do you think they actually believed he would co-found the most successful software company in history? Probably not. But, they encouraged him to follow his dreams even when they thought those dreams might be fool-hearty.

My own teenage daughter is a great kid, but not an A student. When she expressed the desire to get a summer job on Cape Cod, with no experience at any job in her life I thought she might be biting off more than she could chew. But, because I want her to know that hard work has its rewards I encouraged her to give it a shot. She got three offers, and took the highest paying position, and the one she thought she would like best. In the back of mind I thought she might just succeed. I kept encouraging her to work hard, pay attention, and always have a positive attitude.

Half-way through summer she is thriving at her job. Her employer loves her good attitude, solid work ethic, and overall pleasant demeanor. There are customers who ask for her specifically, and some have even hired her to babysit their children. In the town she is working the clients are wealthy, and she makes almost as much babysitting as she does from her actual job.

The success she is experiencing now will have a direct result on her confidence and self esteem going forward. She has now tasted some success, and I know she will work harder in school and at a new job back home when summer is over. Once you know ho good it feels to succeed you want more. Had I discouraged her to take a summer job she might never have experienced all the good things that have come her way this summer.

Last year my wife decided she wanted to go back to school to study nursing. She wants to help people. I fully supported this effort, and constantly encourage her to keep plugging away. She's gotten good grades thus far, and in a few years she'll have the education necessary to follow her passion. Not to mention earn a pretty nice income. It would have been very easy for me to tell her it would take a long time, require a lot of work, and just be difficult to accomplish. All true, but I knew she could do it even when she didn't.

The encouragement she got from me and her friends and family have kept her spirits up when the work got tough. The task is daunting, and she's only about 25% of the way there, but juts looking back at all she's accomplished so far, and all those who believed in her makes the work a little easier to take. Without encouragement she might have given up, and never been totally happy because she didn't follow her passion.

Sometimes a friend or relative might have a new idea that you think is nuts. You might think they're wasting their time, and are bound to fail. If that person has fire in their eyes, and you can tell they are passionate about what they want to do encourage them to follow through. Give them that little boost of confidence that someone believes in them. Resist the urge to be negative, and tell them their idea is wacko. Most of the best ideas in history were regarded as "crazy" by most people at the time. Positivity makes everyone better.

So, make it a habit to encourage people every day. The greatest benefit of offering positive encouragement to others is that it comes back to you in spades. I know that sounds like new age mumbo jumbo, but it really is true. How many negative people have you met that are truly happy? Yeah, none. Being positive breeds positivity from others.

Try it. You'll see it really works.

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