Discover your greatness: Rethinking success

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give - Winston Churchill.

Darren Hardy, the publisher and editorial director of Success Magazine in his bid to redefine success remarked, “Our society celebrates those who obtain fame, wealth, power and celebrity, no matter the means, ethical or not, and we call them successful. Success is often equated to an achieved status, rather than to a measure of value or contribution.”

It is when you are able to humbly serve society without thinking first of the reward or gain irrespective of your wealth, social and educational status, and family prestige that you can confidently say you are successful. According to Hardy, “You can be successful and not significant, but you cannot be significant without being successful.”

Significance, therefore, is the highest dimension of success; that’s success at its best. It is when an individual uses his/her achievements in life to influence worthy causes in his/her community, nation, and the world at large. American businesswoman, Beth Brooke said, "Success is fine, but success is fleeting. Significance is lasting."

For an individual to be fully fulfilled and find true meaning in life in this 21st century day and age, he/she has to rethink success. Success is no more defined primarily by personal and self-serving interests; it is largely determined by the extent to which you use your talent, gifts, abilities, calling, and resources to impact lives.

Success undoubtedly starts with personal ambitions but it has to ultimately be linked to transforming lives and bringing hope to the despair as well as serving the world at large.

When your life adds value to humanity and truly brings hope, smiles, and positive change in the lives of people then you can say you are significant. The aftershock of the great depression and World War II which plunged nations into the abyss of poverty and unprecedented unemployment rates across the globe also changed the structure of the family, society and the world as a whole. For example, by 1933, a quarter of the workforce in the United States of America was without job and many people became homeless.

A nation like Japan was weltering in the mud of dismal poverty while Germany suffered from the collapse of its’ industry, owing to the calling back of America’s loan to stabilize its own economy. Nations started building their own empires in their effort to secure their supplies of raw materials and natural resources.

The world became pervasive with cut-throat economic trade and countries that were once philanthropic could not afford to reach out to impoverish nations anymore. Hence, they became extremely self-centered thereby undermining international co-operation ideal of League of Nations. France and Britain were also impacted greatly that was the reason why they weren’t able to rearm against Hitler swiftly.

With all these life threatening events looming over the atmospheres of nations around the globe, businesses and individuals resolved to steer the affairs of their own destinies since governments and politicians ran out of solutions and options. As a result , women and children were assimilated into the workforce to help unravel the quandary of their family’s socio-economic status. This decision indirectly altered the structure and dynamics of the family tradition. Women who were used to being empresses at home, now had to find jobs in factories, working long hours along side their children and husbands just to make ends meet.

Though these changes may have been the remedy to the situation at the time, it also actuated the individualistic; me, myself and I mindset predominantly in the western hemisphere of the world. Even scholars and researchers came out with theories purporting this style and structure of life; like Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs which held that self-actualization is the highest need of every human.

Prior to this point, the husband brings home the bacon, takes care of his wife and children irrespective of the size of his family, and the family was compacted and intertwined with everyone on the lookout for each other. This also afforded the man the right and privilege to regulate his domain which is his home.

Suddenly, “Little Johnny” who was being cared for solely by his parents , can now earn close to what mum and dad are earning, if not the same. He can now choose what and where to eat daily and eventually where he lives. Hence, success became established as the attainment of individual dreams, desires, hopes, and plans.

“Little Johnny” doesn’t care about the welfare of his mother, father, or siblings anymore and vice versa; everyone’s focus was to make it to the glorious success mountain of life on his or her own.

It was out of this situation that in the United States of America, the term “The American dream” was coined; you can fulfill all your dreams only if you can work hard enough to climb the success ladder to the top. People became engrossed with this philosophy of life not considering its’ negative effects on their family, social values, and traditions.

Unfortunately, this same philosophy of success is still functioning subliminally crept in into our societies and families globally, i.e. individual success outweighs the success of the masses. This approach to life is erroneous and tends to undermine the bedrock of family and society at large. When people’s focus are only geared towards their personal success, they approach life with a cold heart and scarcity mentality. See, no one is free in this world until we are all free.

I am enamored with this striking quote by Martin Luther King Jr. that says, “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

The highest level of success is when an individual sees his/herself as servant to humanity not a master. Oftentimes, it’s when we have reached the apex of success and experience this meaninglessness in our spirit that we realize that life is more than just winning trophies, driving the nicest cars, living in a mansion, getting the highest education, landing the six-figure job or big position, or having a fat bank account.

Author, and former chief solutions officer of Yahoo!, Tim Sanders, believes that “When we give of ourselves, whether it be money, products, time or information, we make ourselves valuable because we are able to share. Then we are rich. Generosity is like a wonder drug. It causes us to refocus on what we have instead of looking at what we don’t have.”

When asked by American television and radio host, Larry King why he gives his time and money to help millions of people around the world, Paul Hewson popularly known as Bono, the front man of the U2 band and a son of a Roman Catholic father and Protestant mother, replied, “I only do what people would do if they had the time and the money.” What a touching and meaningful statement! There is nothing wrong in being successful in life but let your success lead you to be significant.

The story of Stone Kyambadde represents the effect of significance which I consider the highest dimension of success: Destined to be a professional soccer player with his eyes set on the big European leagues and already playing in the Ugandan top league, Stone’s dream of being a soccer star was brought to an end by a knee injury which he suffered as a result of a deliberate act from an opposing team member. Initially, he was devastated by the incident but later realize that there is more to life than his personal success. Stone could have been disgruntled, vindictive or revengeful.

He could have also wallowed in self-pity or lived in his celebrity for the rest of his life. Instead he chose to be significant by devoting his life to inspire and encourage ‘youth at risk’ on the streets of Kampala, Uganda. Stone resolved to be an influence to the young boys on the streets of Kampala, even though his dream has being crushed. He vowed to help make the lives of others better through soccer coaching so they could gain a vision of becoming professional soccer players with the hope of them one day playing in the European clubs which he dreamt of attaining.

Author, salesman, and motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar has the conviction that, “You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.” In 1989, Stone co-founded the Wolves soccer academy with an aim of reaching and mentoring the needy and often homeless boys in Kampala, Uganda through sports. Stone has been doing this for over 20 years, producing some of Uganda’s finest soccer players now playing at an international level.

Today, Stone Kyambadde has become significant more than the professional soccer player he had dreamt of becoming. He travels around the world speaking in leadership conferences and other gatherings, including lectures in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Navy and NASA.

Success takes care of only you and your parochial interests while significance takes care of the masses including you. Success is selfish in nature, significance is selfless. Success is all about you but significance is about others. What people would say about you when you exit this world is what is considered significance.

American author and poet, Maya Angelou declared, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” To be significant in life, the following are few suggestions worth considering:

MEANING – Meaning is the core of good success and can only be derive from the spiritual dimension of humans. When your success is not deduced from a God-given purpose, life would be meaningless and frustrating. Most people chase after personal success and fame so eagerly at times by sacrificing the health and cherished relationships just to get the pinnacle of success and still feel a stark emptiness. What they thought would satisfy their yearning for meaning in life was just a mirage, optical illusion. Rick Warren, author of The purpose Driven Life and Pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, advised, “You were made by God and for God and until you understand that, life will never make sense.”

PURPOSE - Purpose is always an offshoot of meaning in life. When you can make sense out of life then you can discover the “Why” of your life which is reason for your existence. Your significance in this world is rested on your purpose in life. Leadership expert, author, Inspirational speaker, and Pastor , Myles Munroe believes “There is something that God needed done that requires your existence.” You are on this planet because there is a need, a solution, a cause, or a special task that demanded your existence, hence, being alive is an indication of an unaccomplished purpose.

WELLNESS – Someone once said, “Most people spend the health for wealth when they are young, then when they become old they spend their wealth for health.” You definitely can’t be significant in life when you are dead or plagued with diseases. “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity,” says the World Health Organization.

RELATIONSHIPS - People most times win the world but lose themselves and their love ones. This can be challenging in our ever demanding and multi-tasking world. “A man’s growth is seen in the successive choirs of his friends,” says Ralph Waldo Emerson. Relationships can be double-edged sword, they can be productive, uplifting, and impactful but can also be excess weight and distraction to our purposes in life.

Limit your friends according to your capacity and know how to differentiate acquaintances from friends. Relationships should primarily be determined by your values, vision, and vocation in life. Your relations and friends should value what you value , see what you see, and believe in your work ethics.

CONTRIBUTION - Success without significance is like clouds without rain. Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics, George Bernard Shaw expressed his sentiments about the contribution of every human in making this world a better place by saying, “I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community…and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me.

It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” You were created to add value to life not just take from life; to make your life count by championing a worthy cause bigger than yourself and is in doing this that you’ll really achieve good success or significance.

The pursuit of success is often marked with disappointments, pain, diligence, sacrifices, and at times ostracism but it’s in using all these experiences to improve the lives of others that makes life worth living. In the end, how many rooms can you occupy at a time? How many cars can you drive simultaneously? “A life isn’t significant except for its impact on other lives,” held Jackie Robinson.

Actor, businessman, the 38th Governor of the State of California, Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger counseled, “Help others and give something back. I guarantee you will discover that while public service improves the lives and the world around you, its greatest reward is the enrichment and new meaning it will bring your own life.” I urge you this day to evaluate your approach and principle of success to include changing and affecting lives with your natural endowments, resources , and achievements. Discover Your Greatness !