Have you ever thrown a pebble into a pond and watched the ripples?

One small drop in the water’s pristine surface causes waves that get larger and reach farther as they move across the water.

This ripple effect is like your impact.

You may not think you make a difference or affect people, but what you do ripples out from your actions. Your actions will touch the lives of a few people, who have their impact on the lives of others, and the process will continue.

In each area of our lives, we have opportunities to make an impact of others. Our impact will be like those ripples which continue for a long time. Many times, it might be the “little things” that have the biggest ripples effect in the lives of others.

It is important to remember that the ripples can continue beyond our first actions. Each ripple may continue to go on without ever knowing the results of one simple act.

Below are four areas to think about when considering how your impact can create the ripple effect.

Family

What are the ways the ripple effect can influence your family?

How can you create ripples with your family?

Doing small activities with your family members strengthens the bond and creates habits that influence each member of your family. For instance, taking your child on a parent-child date can affect future generations as your child grows. They might pass on that tradition because they found value in building that relationship.

Sometimes it can be as simple as turning off technology and playing a board game. Creating conversation with your family members is more valuable than achieving a high score or a game. Maybe it is as simple as finding a project to work on together. Taking time, whether quality time or quantity time, is a must have in today’s world. Building those family relationships is vital to future generations.

Business

What are the ways you are creating the ripple effect in your business?

Whether you are a small business owner or an employee, there is a ripple effect.

How can you create ripples in your business?

First, you can create opportunities to give compliments to your staff or co-workers. A good rule to remember is to compliment more than you criticize. One simple action you can take today could be to leave anonymous notes on their desk highlighting something positive that you have noticed about their performance.

When you lift someone’s spirits and make them feel valuable, you can affect their attitude at work. This encouragement at work can have the ripple effect on how they feel when they arrive home after a full day.

Community

How is your ripple effect influencing your community?

You may not think about the community aspect of the ripple effect, but it is a valuable influence on the world.

You might be a mentor to someone in your community or in a local school. Being a mentor is a way to cause a ripple effect. Pouring your energy into a child or a young family who could use your guidance can change not only their lives but the lives of their children as well. You can be the reason they find solutions to their puzzles that otherwise would not have happened without your support.

Church

How is the ripple effect you possess working for your church family?

You might not think of the power of a ripple effect in your church family, but it makes a big difference. When you are even attending services, people notice. When your pew is empty, people notice.

Maybe you are a Bible class teacher. If so, the ripple effect is a powerful influence because you are teaching young people who will teach others down the road. Your time with children each week will have an everlasting impact.

While you might read about these four areas of influence, you might feel the world is too big and too broad to make a difference, but that is not the case. Consider this for a moment – just a little invested money grows exponentially with compound interest, your small investment in someone else’s life will yield significant returns.

What small gestures can you make to cause a ripple in the lives of others?

A tip and a note of appreciation for the waiter or waitress at a restaurant?

A note of appreciation to your child’s teacher?

Baked goods for your neighbor?

Do something small and watch the ripples grow wider and wider.

Allow me to offer you 51 ways you can create ripples through simple actions.

  1. Do it! (Decide to create a ripple and do it. Start today.
  2. Stop complaining.
  3. Serve someone less fortunate.
  4. Collect quotes and use them for motivation.
  5. Volunteer.
  6. Mentor a child or a young family.
  7. Do something without looking for personal glory.
  8. Turn off the news.
  9. Get rid of the stuff in your home (6-month
  10. Make cookies for a neighbor.
  11. Organize a neighborhood cookout.
  12. Send one encouraging card a day.
  13. Write a note and do not sign it.
  14. Cut a neighbor’s yard.
  15. Rake someone else’s leaves.
  16. Offer to babysit for a young couple.
  17. Stop checking email.
  18. Attend church services.
  19. Assist someone by carrying groceries to their car.
  20. Put the buggy back at a supermarket.
  21. Buy your wife flowers or your husband a box of chocolate.
  22. Take your children to breakfast before school.
  23. Send your parents a thank you note for raising you.
  24. Buy someone’s dessert in a restaurant.
  25. Leave a large tip.
  26. Paint a picture and hang it in the living room.
  27. Grow a garden and share your vegetables with others.
  28. Plant flowers.
  29. Bake a cake with your children and deliver it to the elderly.
  30. Take a walk and think.
  31. Let someone in your lane in traffic.
  32. Turn off the radio while driving and listen to the wind.
  33. Read a book about something you disagree with.
  34. Print photos you have taken and make a photo collage.
  35. Write “your
  36. Learn a new hobby.
  37. Fast for a day.
  38. Clean your closet out and donate your clothes to the homeless.
  39. Plant a tree.
  40. Giveaway some extra jewelry you have to a single mother.
  41. Call your parents and tell them “Thank You.”
  42. Volunteer to speak at school regarding your profession or hobby.
  43. Donate your used cell phone to a woman’s shelter or a soldier overseas.
  44. Pay for a couple to attend a marriage retreat. (Do so anonymously.
  45. Take off work early and spend time with your family.
  46. Write a letter to a missionary and tell them you are praying for them.
  47. Smile.
  48. Donate school supplies to children in need.
  49. Send a widow some flowers.
  50. Read one book a month.
  51. Begin journaling.
  52. Turn off your computer for a day and get out of the chair.

Will you start today?

What simple action will begin creating ripples?

To your success,

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