A day in the life of Dear Abby
Motivational March 20th, 2007
I received an email this morning that intrigued me. I immediately was reminded of Dear Abby. Though I am not in the business of dispensing advice like this, for some reason, I felt compelled to write. At first, I thought it was one of those, “send me your bank account number and I will deposit millions of dollars into your account†emails. The way he contacted me made me realize that wasn’t the case so I decided to respond to a man from Pakistan who is depressed about his future.I am not sure how he found me or how I can help him since there have been times when I have been uncertain of my future. I know that one idea in a book, seminar, sermon or by an encouraging friend has the potential to change a life. Words are power – spoken or written.  Below is his email and my response to him. I would love to forward him some advice from some of my blog readers. How would you respond if you got such an email?
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 6:24 AM
To: TimRichardson
Subject: I want to get some tips from youÂ
Respected Sir:
My name is Sheharyar and I am from Pakistan. I understand from you web page that you are a motivational speaker. I want to communicate you through emails and want some guidance from you. Sir, nowadays I am very depressed about my future. Kindly give me some suggestions how I improve my life. I am waiting for your mail. SheharyarÂ
Sheharyar -Â I would offer you a few things:
1) Read every day. Some of my favorites: The Magic of Thinking Big, The Power of Positive Thinking, The Greatest Salesman in the World, and The Choice. Also, there is a very popular movie taking the US by storm called The Secret. Perhaps you will find some wisdom in that.
 2) Write down your life goals and work on at least on thing every day to get you there.Â
3) Surround yourself with positive people. You might explore Toastmasters, take the Dale Carnegie Course, or start a master mind group. There’s a book called Think and Grow Rich that can tell you how to do this (read chapter eight).Â
4) The most important thing is this - Find a cause you care about and give yourself fully to it. I believe that nothing will make you feel better about yourself than helping others. I will be anxious to hear from you after six or eight weeks of trying these things. Best wishes, my friend.
Tim
Again, let me know your thoughts on what you would have told him.
Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com
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