LYH19: Five Steps to Maximize Your Relational Footprint [Podcast]

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Show Agenda

Here’s a riddle for you? What do carbon emissions and marriage have in common?

Featured Presentation: Five Steps to Maximize Your Relational Footprint

Featured Presentation

You can find the full blog post on this topic at haroldarnold.com/relationalfootprint

The answer to the riddle…they both leave a footprint, one that will outlast your years here on earth. 

In a real sense, footprints are what each of us leaves behind when we move on. Whether positive or negative it is our legacy, an indelible reminder that we were there.

I wonder what is my relational footprint? In other words, what impact are my marriage, parenting, and friendships having on people that I know as well as those whom I will never meet now or in the future.

Unfortunately, too many people leave a small relational footprint because they think selfishly  about getting their own financial, emotional, and sexual needs satisfied. The impact of our short-sighted relationships dominate the news. Popular culture increasingly challenges the relevance of marriage. Divorce rates remain intransigent. Child poverty and economic impoverishment more generally continue to plague inner cities. Education systems, particularly urban ones, often graduate only half of its students.  Trans-generational epidemics of teenage pregnancy and father absenteeism continue to mar the national landscape.

I would like to suggest five steps to maximize your relational footprint and fulfill the purpose for which you exist. These steps are effective because they shift the focus away from exclusively you to a broader concern for those around you.

Five Steps for Maximum Relational Footprint

  • Step 1: Assume a redemptive posture
  • Step 2: Give others the best of yourself
  • Step 3: Maintain healthy boundaries
  • Step 4: Adopt a positive narrative
  • Step 5: Demonstrate a spiritual sensitivity

These five steps for maximal relational impact are effective because they  are altruistic–focused on touching the lives of others.

What do you desire your relational footprint to ultimately be? Leave a comment below and let me know.  I can’t wait to hear your thoughts. 

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