The think (here) Blog

Over at The Squab, @shanemacsays posted a great piece challenging readers to "do what is not expected. Always."

This piece really hit home on a number of levels.  If you have not yet clicked on the link above, do it... now.  I'll wait.

After reading, I realized that I have one "unexpected" action I like to do in my free time that I want to share.  It is easy to do, fast, and will leave a profound positive impact on the people you interact with. 

What is it? It is simple: On twitter, find the search box and (in quotes!) type in:

"can anyone help"

"Can you help", "please help", and "does anyone know" are all reasonable substitutes that all seem to yield very different types of requests. Search the twitter stream, find a problem you can help with, and reach out. 

It is that simple.

Trivial though this may appear, the impact you can make (in a few short seconds) is astounding.  I have helped:

• A man buy a camera
• An author decide on a cover design
• A girl deal with peer pressure at school
• A guy fix his iPhone
• Various technical problems
• And much more.

Requests range from selfish to selfless.  I used to see simple pleas for help and easy questions and think "how dumb, why don't they just google it?"  However, by overcoming my own cynicism, reaching out, and doing the unexpected, I have met some truly great people and left a lasting impact. 

I challenge you, today, right now: t(h)ink different, 'do the unexpected": Go find three people you can help using the tips above, reach out, and come back here and share your results. (*Optional: So other t(h)inkers like you can find it easily, throw the #thinkhere hashtag on the end of your tweet.) 

Who did you help?  What did you help them with? How did it feel?

t(h)ink on.