Significance

A friend of mine once asked me, ‘Can you achieve success without significance?'

Tough question in today’s world—All too often, we get sideways on what “really matters,” not success but significance. Success is in the eye of the beholder, whereas significance is a view of you held by others. It is what you do when others are not looking, your impact, your moral compass, and your non-negotiables that are not self-centered. Right now, at this stage in my life, I'm not concerned with success but far more concentrated on the legacy that I will leave behind.

Answer: No

The question that I'm asking myself is, "Am I significant?" As I role-play the answers in my mind, I'm picturing what my wife and four boys would say about "their old man."

Did I work twenty-four hours a day vs. make time for my family?

• Was I irritable or impatient?
• Could I fall asleep in the chair minutes after sitting down?
• Was I present when we (family & friends) were together, or was I distracted?
• Did we have an adventure/experience/memories, or do we have "things?"

More importantly, did I have an impact on the people that I love, and did I pursue those things in life that truly matter, or was I just wasting time?

Live a life of significance, and the rest will follow.

-Tony