What if I could give you one idea that would change your world forever? Each of us has the power to touch a life, to make someone feel magnificent and to change the world. The most beautiful way to touch that one life is to see another human being, to make that person feel like they have value. And the way to do that is to be kind. Sometimes people say to me, “Leon, what does kindness mean to you?” And they expect this epic answer. The truth is that kindness is simply helping someone feel less alone.

We have all felt alone. I used to be a broker in the city of London. On the outside, I had everything you could ever want, but, on the inside, I was broken. I was alone. I had no sense of purpose.

We are not OK, and it’s OK to not be OK. The most powerful thing we can do is to share our pain. Because when we share our pain, it frees us. If we don’t share our pain, it will consume us. If we don’t share our pain, ultimately it will destroy us.

I was drinking too much, eating too much, deeply depressed. I thought this was going to be my life. Then I stumbled across the movie “The Motorcycle Diaries,” about a man traveling around South America, relying entirely on the kindness of strangers. As I was sitting on my couch, I had a brilliant idea. I was going to quit my job and start traveling around the world, relying entirely on people like you.

My first trip was going to be from Times Square to the Hollywood Sign. So, I arrived in Hollywood. After seven or eight years, I was, let’s say, not living the kind life. I remember walking down Hollywood Boulevard one day, and I saw this guy with a sign that said, “Kindness is the best medicine.” I had an epiphany. I was going to quit my job again, and I was going to buy a vintage yellow motorbike called Kindness One. I was going to drive it from Los Angeles all the way around Earth back to LA. I’d have no food, no gas and no place to stay, and I couldn’t accept money. All I could accept was relying on people like you.

People sometimes say to me, “Leon, what did you learn?” What I learned is that we are all the same. We just want to be seen. We want to be heard. We want to be loved. Irrespective of color, irrespective of how much money we have, irrespective of religion, we are all the same.

Bad things happen. But what we’ve done is taken a magnifying glass and put it on all the bad. What would happen if we took that magnifying glass and put it on the good? Because there is so much good out there. Take that magnifying glass, turn it on the good, and turn off the news.

I would go up to people, on my journey, and say, “Can I stay in your house tonight?” And they’d be like no. I get it. This is a picture of a chap I spoke to in Pittsburgh, where no one was willing to help. [visual] I went up to him and said, “Hey, can I stay in your house tonight?” He turned around. He went, “Look, I’m really sorry. I’m homeless.” I felt a lot of shame. I was about to walk off when he said, “Well, hold on, hold on. If you want, you can stay with me tonight. I will feed you. I will protect you, and I will give you some clothes.”

I remember thinking to myself, Leon, there’s no way you’re going to sleep on the streets of Pittsburgh. But there was that counterintuitive voice that said, Leon, you are sleeping on the streets of Pittsburgh tonight. And that is exactly what happened. Tony taught me two life-changing lessons. One, kindness is free. It doesn’t matter how much money you have. It doesn’t matter how much money you don’t have. If a homeless man can be kind, then why can’t I?

The second thing that Tony taught me was that true wealth is in our hearts. It is not in our wallets. The truest of wealth is how we show up. The truest of wealth is how we make other people feel. The truest of wealth is made by the choices that we make to inspire others.

It took sleeping on the streets of Pittsburgh to learn those profound lessons. How many of us commit to our work? How many of us commit to our families? And how many of us truly commit to how we show up? That is the truest of wealth.

Kindness is your greatest strength. How you show up is your greatest strength.

Our heroes in today’s society are politicians, musicians, actors. But, for me, all you need to do to be a hero is to be kind. All you need to do to be a hero is to make people believe in themselves. All you need to do to be a hero is to see another human being.

As a kid, every day, I would walk into school and be bullied mercilessly. I had this teacher, Mrs. Mann, who would look me in the eyes and say, “Leon, I believe in you.” I never realized that what she was doing was simply being kind. She was my hero. I challenge you to be that hero for someone else.

I managed to go from LA to New York, from New York to Barcelona, from Barcelona all the way to Vietnam on a 40-year-old yellow motorbike. I arrived in Vietnam, and my bike was impounded. I spent eight to nine days trying to get the bike out. In the end, I did.

While the bike was still impounded, I walked around Ho Chi Minh City and went up to this beautiful building. I was sitting on the steps, having a little bit of a self-piteous English moment. A guy came out and said, “Is everything OK?” And I was like, “Well, no. Not really.” I told him my sob story. And he said, “Well, you’re in luck.” I was like, “OK. Do you know anyone in Customs?” He said, “No, no, no. But I am the Ho Chi Minh City Opera House Chief.” I was like, “Chief. Hello.” He said, “Do you know what? I want you to come to the opera tonight.” I was like, “OK.” No whys. I went to the opera.

Twenty minutes before the end, he tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Leon, I want you to go on stage.” So, I went on stage. I played the drums. At the end, I got a standing ovation. Now, admittedly, it was a pity standing ovation. And something beautiful happened. I felt seen. And everything started to make sense.

What did Mrs. Mann give to me all those years ago? She saw me. What did I give to Tony? “I see you, Tony. You have value.” When we see another human being, everything changes. People often say to me, “Leon, what is the secret sauce of kindness?” The secret sauce of kindness is empathy, and when we live in a world devoid of empathy, Auschwitz happens.

Each and every one of you has the power to touch a life. You get to choose. Do you touch that life through the lens of hate, or do you touch that life through the lens of compassion and empathy? However imperfectly you do that, you have great power. Wield it wisely, and remember, go be kind.

Leon Logothetis is a global adventurer, motivational speaker, bestselling author and philanthropist. As host of the Netflix series “The Kindness Diaries,” Logothetis circumnavigated the globe on his motorbike, giving life-changing gifts along the way to unsuspecting good Samaritans. He has visited more than 100 countries and traveled to every continent. He teamed up with First Book to drive from London to Mongolia, raising money to buy 10,000 books for underprivileged children in America.