Eric Chow on bringing value to the people around you: lift yourself first so you can pull others up, pass on what you have learned, and start by getting to know what people have going on.
Empowerment is in the name of Eric Chow’s podcast, and the order matters to him: himself first, then others. A friend’s answer in 2015, to pass on what he had learned, is the reason he gives for his tutoring, his articles, and the show. This guide gathers where he explains it.
Consider this a different way: It’s a lot harder to push a piece of string forward than to pull it with you. Instead of pushing people, I had to elevate myself, so I could pull.
Today, I know I have to prioritize myself first, so I can help others. I understand now, that on the plane of life, I really do have to put on my own mask first, and then help those around me.
The essay begins with the 2015 answer behind all of it: the best way to thank a friend is to pass on what you have learned. Read the essay. The quote on its own page.
Each link opens the transcript at the moment the excerpt begins, in Eric’s words as the page shows them.
“Empower yourself and you’ll be able to empower others even more.”
“Caring about other people is an absolute strength in life and in business.”
“In the 21st century, we are all born to serve and bring some sort of value to others.”
“Just do something that you think could bring value to others.”
Feelings that come up around empowering others, as The Emotional Wiki reads them: what each one is telling you, with Eric’s words on it.
As Eric tells them on his podcast and in his essays.
In 2015, Eric asked a friend what he could ever do to thank him. The answer was to pass on what he had learned. In Planting Seeds In Fertile Soil he names that sentence as the reason for his tutoring, his articles, and his podcast.
Planting Seeds In Fertile SoilBefore he asked guests to share their stories on his podcast, Eric shared his own, some of it vulnerable. If his own platform did not feel safe to him, he reasons in episode 54, he could not expect a guest to trust it.
Episode 54 at 6:28Growing up, Eric wanted to help anyone around him, from classmates to strangers on the street, and it did not always work out. Caring Is a Strength sets out what he learned: some people do not want help, some need to struggle for themselves, and to give, he has to have.
Caring Is a StrengthPrivate rooms and groups, on subjects from decisions to the craft of the conversation.
Book Eric to SpeakThe same rule as an observer sees it, on Eric’s Approach.
Empower Yourself First
