Are You Too Focused on Success?

“Anyone can be successful, kiddo. Titles? Making a lot of money? That’s easy. Choose to be significant.”

Choosing significance over success is the greatest challenge The Colonel issued to his daughters. It was what he 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 perceive yourself to have. All of those are the way people measure success. Significance, on the other hand, 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.

The Colonel was highly driven, but not specifically toward financial wealth. He pushed his daughters to be exceptional, which is both a good aspiration and a heavy burden to bear as a kid. Nowadays, I see the value in Dad’s challenge to choose significance, and channel that drive to benefitting others whenever I can. I have discovered that focusing in that direction brings me success as well, and frees me from my complex relationship with perfectionism.

So, if we always endeavor 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 and unofficial list of ideas. These are questions you might ask yourself regularly: 

• Have I given without expectation of receiving?
• 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?

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 off one each day is an excellent start.

What would your life and business look like if you focused your energy toward benefiting others first? Anyone can be successful. Choose to be significant instead.

Published originally in Colonels of Wisdom Vol 2 – A Daughters Reflection on Significance(Available Here)