No one is successful by themselves. I don’t care who you are. If you believe any success you’ve had is 100% created all by yourself, you’re an asshole. Yeah, I said it. No one is successful alone, no one.

Don’t be an asshole.

Yes, we all work hard. And our success is ultimately attached to our own efforts, but we live in a connected world that requires the help, insight, support, guidance, and friendship of others and it’s that support in addition to our own efforts that allow us to achieve our goals.

With that said, I’m starting a meme today to acknowledge the person that had the greatest impact on my year.  There is often lots of discussion about the lack of closeness and engagement in today’s world. Many argue because of smartphones, the Internet, social media, the election, 😉 and more that we’re not as close to one another as we used to be.

I don’t agree and want to see if we can change that perception.

Here’s how the meme is going to work. Think about the person who had the greatest impact on your life/success/career/etc. in 2016. You get to decide. It can be professional, someone who was a great mentor, supported a crazy idea, helped you get a promotion, who offered you killer advice, it doesn’t matter, you get to decide. It can also be personal. Someone who helped you through a difficult time? Who was there when no one else was? Who provided unbelievable support, friendship, closeness, etc. when you needed it most? It can be anyone, it could be your spouse, a friend, a stranger, a teacher, a mentor, anyone.

The objective is to identify the person that had the greatest effect on your personal or professional life in 2016 and thank them publicly by answering these questions.

WHO HAD THE GREATEST IMPACT ON YOUR YEAR?

WHAT DID THIS PERSON HELP YOU ACCOMPLISHMENT OR ACHIEVE IN 2016?

WHY WAS THIS ACCOMPLISHMENT SO IMPORTANT TO YOU?

WHAT DID (FILL IN PERSON’S NAME) DO TO HELP YOU ACCOMPLISH THAT GOAL?

HOW DID THIS PERSON’S SUPPORT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

WHY ARE YOU SO THANKFUL FOR THEIR SUPPORT?

HOW IS YOUR WORLD DIFFERENT TODAY BECAUSE OF THIS PERSON?

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SAY TO THIS PERSON, THAT YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY TOLD THEM?

FILL IN THE BLANK: I WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE “BLANK” SHARE WHO HAD THE MOST IMPACT IN HIS OR HER LIFE IN 2016.

Acknowledging the people who were instrumental in our success is so important. It’s easy to move through life taking credit for all we’ve accomplished, but if we’re honest, we’ll recognize that we didn’t do it alone. There were people along the way who provided us support and direction that without them, we could never have had the success we had.

With this said, here’s the person who had the greatest impact on my 2016.

WHO HAD THE GREATEST IMPACT ON YOUR YEAR?

Chris Brogan

WHAT DID THIS PERSON HELP YOU ACCOMPLISHMENT OR ACHIEVE IN 2016?

Chris was a huge help to me in the success of my book, Not Taught; What it Takes to Be Successful In The 21st Century That Nobody’s Teaching You

WHY WAS THIS ACCOMPLISHMENT SO IMPORTANT TO YOU?

I had never written a book before. I chose to self-publish and I wanted the book to be a success. When you spend the amount of time and effort I did on a book, you want people to enjoy it. You want people to read it and say that was a good book.  It was important to me that Not Taught did well.

WHAT DID Chris Brogan DO TO HELP YOU ACCOMPLISH THAT GOAL?

Chris and I met in 2015. We were introduced by my friend Anthony Iannarino.  We hit it off immediately. What I found so compelling about Chris is his unselfish, giving nature. Chris gives without asking for anything in return.

It’s this background that sets the stage for Chris’s support. Having only known me for a few months, Chris read a draft of Not Taught and agreed to write the foreword and provide a review. Chris is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best-Selling Author and has over 349k Twitter followers. Sharing that social credit and agreeing to write the foreword was unbelievably generous.

Chris also provided one of the best quotes describing the book. “Not Taught is like Red Bull for the brain.”

If all that wasn’t enough, Chris was one of our first guest on the Taught Leaders Show, the Not Taught Podcast and Blab helping readers implement the lessons from Not Taught. 

His support and participation were unparalleled.

HOW DID THIS PERSON’S SUPPORT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Chris’s support, willingness to write the foreword and his description and review of the book played a huge role in providing me the author and the book an amazing amount of added credibility the book would not have had without him. I don’t believe the book would have received the exposure and success it did without Chris’s support.

WHY ARE YOU SO THANKFUL FOR THEIR SUPPORT?

Chris didn’t have to do any of the things he did. We had only known each other for a few months. We had only met in person once, for less than an hour or so. For all intents and purposes, I was a stranger and yet Chris didn’t flinch. When I asked for his help he said “Heck ya!”  And, he did so without asking for a thing in return. He’s been phenomenally selfless and for that I can’t thank him enough. Most people in his position say no.

HOW IS YOUR WORLD DIFFERENT TODAY BECAUSE OF THIS PERSON?

Not Taught has been a tremendous success. I’ve sold thousands of books, have been booked to speak all over the world and most importantly changed the lives of countless people who’ve written me via email or online saying; Not Taught has changed their lives and catapulted their careers. There is nothing more satisfying than knowing you helped change someone’s life for the better and knowing Not Taught has done this for countless people has been the amazing.

2016 was a great year because of Not Taught and Chris played a huge role in that.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SAY TO THIS PERSON, THAT YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY TOLD THEM?

Chris my man, not only has your selfless willingness to help me launch Not Taught been amazing, I’ve learned a lot from you in the past 18 months about giving. The biggest lesson being how to give unconditionally to people you don’t even know, and how to give without asking for something in return. Let’s be honest. That can be hard.

I watch you do your birthday notes to your friends on Facebook almost every day. I watch you offer help to folks on a regular basis. Your selflessness has opened my eyes to giving my time and support to others. I now accept far more requests for help from complete strangers and people I know sparsely on social, because of you. Thank you for that!

Your selflessness is getting paid forward.

FILL IN THE BLANK: I WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE “BLANK” SHARE WHO HAD THE MOST IMPACT IN HIS OR HER LIFE IN 2016.

Oh, this is easy. Mr. “Hustle” himself. I want to know who Gary Vaynerchuck credits with having a huge impact on his 2016. I’m curious who he says helps him. No one does it alone.

OK, who is the person that had the greatest impact on your year?  Let us know.  Simply copy and paste the questions to your blog or Facebook page, answer them with your heart, share with that person to let them know the impact they had on your year. And finally, pick a person who you’d like them to share who impacted their year the most and forward the link or post to them.

Let’s see if we can create a lot of smiles and celebration around giving and sharing this holiday season. We could use it.

Ready, set, go!