The Significance Principle
1-30-09

Last week we began talking about the first principle of true success and that was Opportunity. The next principle that helps you develop the behaviors of a winner is my favorite and it is what I built my business and life with. I hold it close to me every day, and that is the Significance Principle.

The Significance Principle says to make your purpose more important than your profits.

I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply ALL my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.
Og Mandino

The Identity Trap: Wasting time losing yourself. Have any of you ever felt this? I certainly have. We sometimes get tied up in the minutia of this world and our surroundings that it is easy to forget who we are inside. Desperation turns us into the people that we all loath. We live in a society that defines us by the NOW, and they mean right now! But that’s us too. What if you could slow it down to actually do more? Start working on your Significance Factor and I can prove to you that you can.

The four keys to your Significance are:

#1 – Put possibility before profits. I love the word “possibility”. One of the best known and most respected Zen masters in the world today, Thich Nhat Hahn, said “We have more possibilities available to us in each moment than we realize.” What describes you does not necessarily define you. Your reality does not control your destiny. Your circumstances now do not have to be the descriptor of who you are. Right now, are you someone who:

Is described by your current reality?

Or

Has an identity you intentionally created that takes you beyond your current reality?

What is your identity? What is it wrapped up in? What is it based on? Are you fulfilling that purpose? My business/life coach told me years ago to “Be a possibility thinker and stop being irresponsible.” Sort of an in-your-face statement, but I would implore you to tell yourself that.

#2 – Put passion before profits. A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion.

#3 – Put professionalism before profits. I am a huge fan of the great quotes. I read all the time just to find the right ones. There’s a great read out there, and on my shelf in my office, entitled Anonymous…The Things People Said But Didn’t Take Credit For. My favorite in that book is “The mark of a true professional is giving more than you get.”

#4 – Put people before profits. This key alone is why I know and will always know that business and friendship DO mix. If you don’t believe that, try doing business with someone you don’t like. More importantly, the way you get meaning in your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

Remember to win your day today. Embrace every moment to show your Significance.