Making A Difference

Many people think success and significance are synonymous, but there is actually a huge difference between the two.  A favorite author of mine, John C. Maxwell, wrote a great article on the difference between success and significance.  To sum it up, John says that success comes from adding value to yourself, while significance is about adding value to others.

For most people it takes a lifetime to see what truly matters.  When we're in our 20's, 30's and 40's most of us are focused on improving our own lives and becoming successful.  Then we age a little bit more and in our 50's we realize that personal success isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's easy to have every material possession you can think of and still feel empty inside.  However, when you are making a difference in the lives of other people, then you are on the road to true significance and very little else will ever satisfy you.

I have always loved the expression, "Teach a man to fish and then he can fish for himself." Imagine what would happen if the person you taught went on to teach someone else. Now your efforts have changed from simple addition to multiplication.

For me, the 'ah-ha' moment came after watching the movie "Pay It Forward" and then reading a short story about starfish on the beach.

Once upon a time (all good stories start with that phrase) there was an old man who liked to walk on the beach at daybreak.  As the man came down to the beach he noticed there were thousands of starfish that had been washed up on shore by a storm the night before.  Off in the distance he spied a young boy who periodically bent down and threw something back in the ocean.  As the boy came close, the old man asked the boy what he was doing.  The boy explained that he was throwing starfish back into the ocean so they might live. The old man said there were tens of thousands of starfish on the beach and there was really no way the boy could make a difference.  Right then, the young boy threw another starfish back into the ocean and he said, "Made a difference to that one."

I have a 3x5 card above my desk with the phrase, "Life is not about what you learn or what you know. It's all about what you DO with what you know and learn."