I am the last guy that should be writing a blog post. You wouldn’t believe the frustration that has come my way just trying to ink something simple and to the point. This is my first blog post and to be honest, I had to consult someone about how to do this. Does this mean I’m a blogger now?

So what is this blog post all about?

Recently, Daily Challenge contacted me and had all these really incredible things to say about my involvement in Pay It Backward Day. They even called me a hero! A hero. really? It is flattering to be sure, but the last time I checked, I can’t leap over tall buildings nor do I wear a cape or sport a utility belt.

I really didn’t understand the “hero” remark. I thought about it for a while and thought - “This ‘do gooding’ thing is pretty simple and effortless.” All I did was pick up the phone, share my ideas and made sure others got involved in the fun. You see, I am fortunate enough to work with really amazing people who love the PIB Day concept so much, it hardly needed a push to take off. When I explained the event and how I wanted my company to participate, there was an instant feeling of excitement and enthusiasm which got me even more revved up! So much so, that I went a bit well… crazy. Not like ‘Tom Cruise on Oprah’ crazy. Good crazy. Okay maybe crazy isn’t the right word… how about inspired. The enthusiasm ignited something - Inspiration!

That’s when it became a whirlwind. I had all these ideas I wanted to bring to the table. The challenge was to find a way to use my ideas in a way that would get people to participate. When the dust settled, something became very clear. I had a “reach” - one that had been in front of me all along. I had a way to send the Pay It Backward concept all the way from Vaughan Mills in Vaughan to as far as Devonshire Mall in Windsor! After hearing the story of the original Pay It Backward, I realized that it would be impossible to ignore the message and my ability to distribute it further.

This whole “hero” thing has everything to do with my actions, I’m told. The more I think about it, the more I see these actions being performed by the people around me. It’s never really been a single effort on my part. The company I work for is more than a real estate company. It is a group of people. Individuals who have genuine concern for their communities and who will take part to make them successful. Our participation is a really big part of who we are. We are probably a lot like you.

I wasn’t looking to ignite people, I just wanted to help. The other stuff just seemed to come together on it’s own.

Thanks to fiskfisk for the use of the Guitar Hero photo.

Have you watched some of the movies that Daily Challenge member, Emmanuel Lopez-Motivatorman, has suggested in his guest post series? We have and we thank him for directing us to these stimulating reminders of how powerful giving can be.

Here are the final 3 films from my list of 15 movies to inspire you to be a more thoughtful, altruistic person:

13) The Shawshank Redemption 1994

There is a scene in this film where Tim Robbins’s character makes a deal with a prison guard that surprises his fellow inmates. While tarring a roof on a hot day he helps the prison guard with his financial advice in return for just a few cold beers for his work crew. While his crew drinks happily we see Robbins’s character just smiling blissfully.

14) The Ultimate Gift 2006

This movie is chock full of motivational messages about an irresponsible, spoiled young man who must accomplish a series of video taped tasks in order to receive his inheritance. With each task, he learns the true nature of being a thoughtful, altruistic human being.

15) Yes Man 2008

This movie stars Jim Carrey and is based on a true story where a man spent a whole year saying yes to everything. The lesson Carrey learns is that by acknowledging and giving whatever he has to total strangers, great abundance comes back to him in unexpected ways.

I hope you enjoyed reading this list of 15 movies that can motivate you to be a better person. Watching your favourite movies over and over again is a great way to build a more generous and thoughtful mindset.

And the rewards for giving to others can transform your soul and enrich your spirit! In the end you’ll feel good for taking the time to make others feel good!

See Part 1 for complete list of movies

Emmanuel Lopez aka Motivatorman is an award-winning illustrator, recording artist and motivational specialist. The Washington Post has featured his blog as a recommended resource for motivational tips and inspiring movie examples. Emmanuel offers empowering keynotes and seminars to organizations to help build optimistic mindsets during the current economic challenges. More info: www.motivatorman.com

The power of giving can lift you up when you are down. So can movies, says motivational specialist, movie lover and Do Gooder, Emmanuel Lopez-Motivatorman. In this 6 part post series, Emmanuel shares with us some of his favourite movies that inspire giving.

Here are 3 more films from my list of 15 movies to inspire you to be a more thoughtful, altruistic person:

10) Ocean’s 13 2007

This 3rd part in the movie trilogy is more like a Robin Hood story where they steal from the rich and give to the poor. See the fun scenes near the end where the thieves give millions of dollars away!

11) Pay It Forward 2000

This powerful movie illustrates the amazing model of committing 3 random acts of kindness and having those 3 individuals do the same with others. It shows how fast a chain reaction of good deeds can spread and help change the world. And the concept all originated from a young boy played by Haley Joel Osment.

12) Peaceful Warrior 2006

A young gymnast is taught how to achieve his dreams and goals by first changing his selfish attitude. Nick Nolte’s character is a mystical mentor who helps him while working at a service station. His occupation at a gas station is a powerful metaphor for an important life message for being of service to others. And there’s one scene where he literally gives someone the shirt off his back!

Let these movies help you visualize how you can give to someone today! For more movie ideas to help invoke the power of giving in you, please see the next blog post.

See Part 1 for complete list of movies

Emmanuel Lopez aka Motivatorman is an award-winning illustrator, recording artist and motivational specialist. The Washington Post has featured his blog as a recommended resource for motivational tips and inspiring movie examples. Emmanuel offers empowering keynotes and seminars to organizations to help build optimistic mindsets during the current economic challenges. More info: www.motivatorman.com

Come back to the Do Gooder Daily one week from today for Part 6 of 15 Inspiring Movies About Giving.

Do you want an extra boost of energy? Try giving! If you’re not convinced this is an effective cure, why not watch a movie first? But not just any movie, says motivational specialist, movie buff and Daily Challenge member, Emmanuel Lopez-Motivatorman. In this guest post series, Emmanuel suggests movies that will stimulate your urge to give.

Here are 3 more films from my list of 15 movies to inspire you to be a more thoughtful, altruistic person:

7) Meet John Doe 1941

This Frank Capra classic is about Gary Cooper’s character who unwittingly becomes a spokesperson for a major newspaper. He ends up inspiring a nation with his messages of helping out a neighbour in need.

Millions 2004

A young boy finds a bag full of money and you see how naturally thoughtful he is about others in need. The film also shows how others behave (bad and good) when it comes to receiving sudden abundance. This movie was directed by Danny Boyle who also directed Slumdog Millionaire.

9) Mr. Deeds Goes To Town 1936

This Frank Capra classic is about a small-town man who inherits millions of dollars and is thrust into the big city life of New York. You see how his small-town values for being thoughtful of others leads him to helping hundreds in need of work with his new money.

Let these movies help you visualize how you can give to someone today! And see next blog post for 3 more movie ideas to bring out the giver in you.

See Part 1 for complete list of movies

Emmanuel Lopez aka Motivatorman is an award-winning illustrator, recording artist and motivational specialist. The Washington Post has featured his blog as a recommended resource for motivational tips and inspiring movie examples. Emmanuel offers empowering keynotes and seminars to organizations to help build optimistic mindsets during the current economic challenges. More info: www.motivatorman.com

Come back to the Do Gooder Daily one week from today for Part 5 of 15 Inspiring Movies About Giving.

The world is going through some unprecedented challenging times. Global psychologies are shifting, and pressures are mounting at home and at work for a lot of people.

So, my role as a leadership and personal development expert and author (The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, Greatness Guide, among others) is to help manage change and turbulence for my clients, to reconnect them with the basic fundamentals, and to remind them that it’s often in these times of crisis that opportunities abound for personal and professional growth. I coach them along my Lead Without Title (LWT) philosophy – that leadership naturally resides within all of us, and is independent of any professional or social title. And I truly believe that it is in these times that one must break through their fears, and lead the pack.

That’s why, in conjunction with DailyChallenge, we’ve decided to challenge YOU to break through some of your fears, and share it with the world. The winner of this contest will win a free ticket to my exclusive Awakening Best Self Weekend, held this June 5-7 north of Toronto, Canada. The ABS Weekend is my premiere, and ONLY, personal development workshop of 2009, and people from all over the world will be attending. These 2.5 days with me will take your career and life to a whole new level of success and happiness! For more information on The ABS Weekend, please click here.

To participate in the contest, simply click here and follow the simple directions. And as a bonus for participating in this contest, I want to give you, for FREE, my latest documentary “Two Days in NYC”. Simply input your name and email address where asked (http://www.robinsharma.com/dc-abs) and I’ll give you the free download. This contest is video-based, and requires a video submission to be considered for The ABS Weekend grand prize.

I know many might be scared off with shooting their own video, and sharing it with everyone. But that’s the thing, everyone needs to break through, be bold, and lead the pack! Fancy editing, graphics, and music is not required – in fact I’d probably prefer otherwise. So start shooting, be raw and original. Can’t wait to see everyone’s great work!

For those of you just joining us in this guest post series, we’re talking about the power of giving. Do Gooder, motivational specialist and movie enthusiast, Emmanuel Lopez, shares with us his favourite movies that inspire giving.

Here are 3 more films from my list of 15 movies to inspire you to be a more thoughtful, altruistic person:

4) Evan Almighty 2007

This comedy starring Steve Carell has a great message about changing the world one act of random kindness at a time. The other powerful messages in this movie may also inspire you to have better relationships in your life.

5) Ghost Town 2008

Ricky Gervais’s character is a self-centered, selfish, people-hating dentist who is forced to change after a near-death experience. You get to see how he becomes a more thoughtful human being when he starts to help the spirits of dead people find closure with loved ones they left behind.

6) Groundhog Day 1993

This is one of my top favourite movies and it’s about Bill Murray’s character who starts off as a self-absorbed, thoughtless weather reporter who is magically forced to live the same day over and over again. The only way he can break free of this pattern is to change his mindset, think of others first and commit random acts of kindness.

Let these movies help you visualize how you can give to someone today! And see next blog post for more movie descriptions from films that show the power of giving.

See Part 1 for complete list of movies

Emmanuel Lopez aka Motivatorman is an award-winning illustrator, recording artist and motivational specialist. The Washington Post has featured his blog as a recommended resource for motivational tips and inspiring movie examples. Emmanuel offers empowering keynotes and seminars to organizations to help build optimistic mindsets during the current economic challenges. More info: www.motivatorman.com

Come back to the Do Gooder Daily one week from today for Part 4 of 15 Inspiring Movies About Giving.

Last week, we introduced fellow Do Gooder, Emmanuel Lopez-Motivatorman, and his thoughts on the power of giving. He has an exceptional gift for recognizing inspiring messages in movies and shared with us his list of films that illustrate the power of giving. The next 5 posts explain why these movies made the cut.

Here is the first group of 3 films from my list of 15 movies to inspire you to be a more thoughtful, altruistic person:

1) As Good As It Gets 1997

This movie shows how Jack Nicholson’s cranky, people-hating character transforms into showing more kindness and giving. It starts when he is forced to care for his neighbour’s dog who he hates at first but later opens his heart to and others around him.

2) Bed of Roses 1996

There’s an inspiring scene where Christian Slater’s character, a florist, demonstrates how great he feels to see someone’s face light up when they receive the flowers he is delivering.

3) Bicentennial Man 1999

Robin Williams’s character is an android programmed to serve others. His programming reveals that he is extra special and has a strong drive for self-improvement. This leads to amazing inventions that serve the human race in extending people’s lives.

Let these movies help you visualize how you can give to someone today! And see next blog post for 3 more movies that invoke the power of giving.

See Part 1 for complete list of movies

Emmanuel Lopez aka Motivatorman is an award-winning illustrator, recording artist and motivational specialist. The Washington Post has featured his blog as a recommended resource for motivational tips and inspiring movie examples. Emmanuel offers empowering keynotes and seminars to organizations to help build optimistic mindsets during the current economic challenges. More info: www.motivatorman.com

Come back to the Do Gooder Daily one week from today for Part 3 of 15 Inspiring Movies About Giving.

Almost 1 month after Pay it Backward Day and many of us still glow in the rosy aftermath of that event. Emmanuel Lopez-Motivatorman, fellow Do Gooder and friend, was there and pointed out there are many great movies about the power of giving. This post is part 1 of Emmanuel’s 6 part series on movies that inspire giving.

When you practice the power of giving your whole world will change. It’s about understanding that positive energy can flow from person to person. So when you give something of yourself to others you become part of a flow of energy that can energize you as well.

The book “How Full Is Your Bucket?” by Tom Rath and Donald Clifton is all about the power of giving. It’s based on the theory that everyone has an invisible bucket that fills or empties with every social interaction. So you are either energized or depleted with every person you encounter during your day.

Focus on energizing others and filling their bucket whenever you can. Give a compliment to a stranger, say thank you or acknowledge them in a kind way. Think about how you can make someone’s day. And when you least expect it you’ll feel a rush of energy because your bucket will be filled from the appreciative smile you’ll get in return!

Many movies demonstrate the power of giving. Here is a list of 15 favourite movies of mine that can inspire you to be a more thoughtful, altruistic person:

1. As Good As It Gets 1997
2. Bed of Roses 1996
3. Bicentennial Man 1999
4. Evan Almighty 2007
5. Ghost Town 2008
6. Groundhog Day 1993
7. Meet John Doe 1941
8. Millions 2004
9. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town 1936
10. Ocean’s 13 2007
11. Pay It Forward 2000
12. Peaceful Warrior 2006
13. The Shawshank Redemption 1994
14. The Ultimate Gift 2006
15. Yes Man 2008

In the next 5 blog posts I will write why each of these movies will inspire you. And if you have a favourite movie that motivates you to give, please let me know!

Emmanuel Lopez a.k.a. Motivatorman is an award-winning illustrator, recording artist and motivational specialist. The Washington Post has featured his blog as a recommended resource for motivational tips and inspiring movie examples. Emmanuel offers empowering keynotes and seminars to organizations to help build optimistic mindsets during the current economic challenges. More info: www.motivatorman.com

Come back to the Do Gooder Daily one week from today for Part 2 of 15 Inspiring Movies About Giving.