Each and every day I was training for the 5K, I would Marco Polo my friend who was running the race with me. 

We joked about it – asking why in our right minds we would sign up for it. But then the next day, we would go out and we’d run again.

Come race day, we were running with a whole group from our church. My friend and I ran side by side cheering each other on. Even when we got separated, anytime we saw each other or another group member in passing, we kept moving forward. We knew we had been in this together and we were going to see this race through to the finish line.

That my friends is the power of the Other. 

Dr. Henry Cloud points us to the “research [that] shows over and over again that people trying to reach goals succeed at a much greater rate if they are connected to a strong human support system.”

People have a crazy powerful effect on us. Your performance, who you are, and how you live can be shaped by this power – the power of the other.

Make no mistake, the power doesn’t come from any stranger you see on the side of the way. Nope! That power can only come from the relationships you build over time. 

Makes sense, right? We got through some of the hardest seasons in our life because someone we love was in the race with us, fighting for us. 

And that power that’s in the other – whoever it may be – is also in us.

That means we hold the power to motivate someone to cross that finish line, to keep moving forward, to help them fight in the midst of a disastrous season. 

We can’t just let that power go to waste! Let’s invest it and put it to good use. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Cultivate a relationship in order to harvest such great power. Don’t be just a stranger. Grab a cup of coffee and chat about the real things. Get into the race they’re running and go beside them through the thick of it.
2. Know that people respond to freedom, not control.Think about it – would you be friends with someone “because they said so…” No? Huh, SHOCKER! Don’t try to control people and their decisions, it’s not going to work. Not once did my friend judge me for missing a workout.
3. Listen before you speakOpen any book about communication and you’re bound to find this written all over it. Why? Because we humans have trouble listening before we give our two cents in. But if we just hear them out, we’d find that a lot of the times our two cents means diddly squat to them.
4. And when you do speak, speak lifeThis goes back to responding to freedom rather than control. We respond to encouragement, not criticism. I mean, I don’t think there’s anyone out there who absolutely hates hearing encouragement, but give ‘em a critique and their running the other way.
5. Love AlwaysWith great power comes great responsibility but you will never be responsible for someone else’s decisions. All you can really do is love them big and without limits.

Whether you’re running a real race or joining someone in the thick of their own, don’t forget the power of the other – it can kick you into gear and help you accomplish great things!