The greatest challenge The Colonel issued to his daughters was to choose significance over mere success. He said, “Anyone can be successful, kiddo… Making a lot of money, that’s easy. Choose to be significant.”
This is what Dad considered the ultimate measure of a person’s life. You see, significance has nothing whatsoever to do with how much money you make, what your title is, or how much power you think you have. All of those are the way people measure success. Significance is a measure of how many lives you touch and the manner in which you choose to impact them – because how you affect someone’s life is a choice. You can choose to have a positive impact on others, or you can choose to focus on yourself entirely, which can lead to a negative impact or no impact at all.
So, if we are endeavoring to pursue a positive impact, what might that look like, and how might we accomplish it? Through his example, without consciously knowing it, The Colonel gifted me with a loose list of ideas. These are questions you might ask yourself regularly:
- Have I given without expecting to receive?
- Who have I mentored, taught, coached, or helped in some way?
- Have I relinquished an opportunity – because I knew it would have a more powerful impact if given to someone else?
- Have I spent time with someone simply because I knew they were lonely and needed someone to talk to – who would genuinely listen?
- What have I done to make my immediate community a better place?
- Have I given truly and entirely anonymously?
- Have I been there for friends and family even when it was less than convenient to do so?
- Have I shown compassion to everyone I encounter?
Now, I understand this is a weighty list, and no one could be expected to achieve all of these things every day. Some days we fall short entirely – but endeavoring to tick at least one off each day is an excellent start.
Dad was highly driven to be exceptional, but not specifically in terms of financial wealth. I calibrate more closely with Dad’s challenge to be significant and channel the drive I inherited from him toward benefitting others whenever I can. My experience has shown me that focusing on this brings me success as well.
What if you took up the challenge to accomplish just one of the things on that list every day? What difference would that make in others’ lives? Our workplace? Our communities? I think it’s worth a shot. Folks, anyone can be successful. Choose to be significant.
Read Lauren’s Whitepaper on The Nine Essentials of Significant Leadership.