What is your Radius of Influence?

The term is usually synonymous with borehole technology but to me it relates to the thought provoking question “How many people have you helped/influenced?”

Base premise

The six degrees of separation idea which states that everything and everyone is within 6 or fewer intermediaries away through introduction, supports the notion of the radius of influence. Many of us have a friend, who has a friend that knows someone whose friends with a famous or influential person but not everyone taps into these “connections” to fully make the difference they seek. You could be one conversation away from truly increasing your radius exponentially.

Legacy

Every person on earth has a specific cause or goal that they are chasing whether that be fame, wealth or making a true difference in the world either through charity or volunteer work. Often is the case where a person sets out on a mission to influence a great deal of people only to accrue a great deal of wealth and fame in the process. This is no coincidence for it is these people who have the greatest legacy left behind. In the 1900s, the people with the greatest legacy were the inventors of mechanical or analog devices.

Alexander Graham Bell is known to have created the first functioning telephone, he provided the foundation upon which all modern communication is based. Today in a technology dominated world, the people with the greatest radius are those who have founded important technologies. One example of these technologies is social media. If you were to mention the names of the creators of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and many others almost everyone will know who you are talking about. This comes as a direct result of their radius of influence. A radius that expanded due to the platform’s creation and its widespread use across the world.

Find your radius

Now while we can’t all start an internet company which will grow and expand similar to the platforms listed above, we can all strive to set our own radius goal.

1. Have a long term goal — This can either be to help fight poverty or to increase the availability of internet connectivity. Having an exact number of people you want to help may provide measurable outcomes for yourself but it is not essential.
2. Add Context — Is your goal to fight poverty or increase internet availability in your community, state, country or even the world?
3. Do something about it everyday — This can be as small a gesture as buying a loaf of bread and giving it to someone on the side of the road. It could be volunteering at a soup kitchen.

No matter what the gesture is, your aim is the “long term” goal. Each and every small/large gesture can help you chip away at your long term goal.

The residual effect of increasing your radius or influence is the ripple effect of positive change that your actions and the actions of your peers will have on your community, state, country or even our world.

Have you measured your radius of influence and what are you doing today to increase it?