A friend of mine, Scott Fay, writes and teaches on success and significance in our lives. Another friend of mine forwarded to me an article about how we sometimes positively impact others in our lives without knowing it. There is a great connection between these two ideas.
In his book, Discover Your Sweet Spot, Scott explores how we create significance by giving away what we can’t keep. That certainly includes money, but it also encompasses our time, our attention, our talents, and our efforts. Significance in our lives is about being significant in the lives of others. It is not about us.
When we influence others through our actions, we will probably never see the result or know that we had any effect. But that shouldn’t cause us to change our actions.
Isn’t it amazing that if we have the right motives, and work to positively impact others, we can succeed and not even know it. We should strive for significance without any need to see the results.
This morning I reflected about people that have had a positive impact on my life. I found it amazing that most have no idea that they had an influence me. I am sure you would discover the same if you thought about people that have shaped your life, and your list would probably include family, teachers, mentors, friends, and colleagues.
I think a great challenge for each of us would be to reflect on the significance we want to have in our lives. What actions should we be taking to make a difference for others? Are we prepared to follow through every day without the reward of knowing the effect?