You ain't heavy -- you're my brother. Or sister.

Last year, I made an unusual request to three people who are very important to me, my go-to Director of Photography, an editor / producer, and an author / motivational speaker. People whom I work and collaborate with but, more importantly, are also dear friends.

The question was as simple as it was out-of-the-blue: what are your goals for this year?

When I asked them this, I let them know the intent behind the question; by knowing their goals, I could view emerging opportunities not just in terms of my own goals, but also through the lens of their wants and needs. By knowing their dreams and goals, something that otherwise might not register on my radar would instead stand out.

So here we are, more than a year later. My DP has now gone on to shoot several feature films and dozens of music videos. My editor / producer friend has now moved to L.A. to pursue a great new job. And my author / motivational speaker friend has written a new book and has exponentially increased his number of speaking engagements. Is this just some wild coincidence? Actually, uh… yeah. Their successes are in no way linked to my efforts to help them. But please, don’t let the whole ‘correlation doesn’t equal causation’ thing get in the way of you thinking that I’m an awesome guy with the Midas touch.

While not validated by some glowing success story, I maintain that there’s value in what I proposed. And I should say, my idea is not anything especially new. In the realm of business, you could say this is part of ‘networking.’ In a social / spiritual context, this would be part of ‘being in community.’

Which brings us to now. I now want to amp up and expand the focus of this social experiment by asking you this question: how can I help you?

Seriously. I want to know. What if what you need is something I can provide? Or what if I can put you in touch with someone who can help you? This is too simple to just blow off. If you need a kidney, I’ll tell you now, that’s a longshot. Need help moving? A little less of a longshot.

Bottomline– borrowing from the world of sales– don’t be afraid to ‘go for the ask.’ What will shake out? Don’t know. That’s what makes it an experiment. But I’m excited to find out.

You can hit me up here, but also feel free to post your request in the replies. Looking forward to hearing from you.

- Matthew Porter

PS: See you here next week for Great Quote Monday!

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