Most of us squander the most precious resource we have – our time.
A lot of this is due to poor planning. Sometimes it is due to a lack of clarity around our sense of purpose. And both of those remain our own responsibility.
Let’s focus on the second one: having a lack of clarity around our sense of purpose.
Our life, our very existence, is like a blank canvass that a painter would do her work on. That painter conceives in her mind’s eye the masterpiece she intends to create. She envisions it, perceiving every detail, every nuance, every stroke of the brush. She internalizes depth, color, perspective, texture. She ponders shape and line and form and value. And then she goes to work, bringing to life her masterpiece.
The same is true with our own lives. If we truly understand our purpose, if we have clarity around the meaning and the value we bring to this state of our existence, we remain clear-headed. Life is seen as a drama, and all of the people we engage with are actors on the stage of life, each playing his or her role. There are villains and there are heroes. There are mentors and there are friends. There are opportunists and there are the plodders. And we play our role, whatever it may consist of.
When we are clear about our purpose, when we grasp what our masterpiece is supposed to turn out to be, we can orient ourselves to that end, and begin to make decisions that move us confidently in that direction. That alone can give us energy and staying power. That alone can bring fulfillment.
Our sense of purpose can be fulfilled by racking up a steady stream of accomplishments – goals that we set and then achieve.
Yet, in order to leave a truly lasting legacy, wise stewards of their time recognize that by helping others succeed, they vastly magnify their influence for good.
Think of the stone that is tossed in the center of the lake. Once that rock makes contact with the still waters, concentric rings or waves emanate outward in ever-expanding tremors. These waves of influence magnify, or spread across the flat water, impacting the environment, broadening and proliferating across the vast expanse of the lake upon which it rides.
Our taking the time to help others succeed follows a parallel path. Developing others, mentoring others, encouraging others, helping them expand their knowledge, fine-tune their skills, or develop their innate talents has a reverberating affect that spreads across the environment, broadens possibilities, and fosters a culture of accomplishment and innovation.
But why develop others? After all, it’s selfless work. It doesn’t directly benefit us in most cases, apart from the satisfaction we feel at having done good.
But there is a reason why we do so: We do so because in doing so we are taking sides. There are two sides to choose from: the side of allowing happenstance to rule, or the side of being a leader, a creator, an innovator, a builder.
But builders know that helping others succeed takes time. It never involves a quick fix. Destroying, on the other hand, takes almost no time at all. It is much easier to destroy than to build. Three examples to consider:
The sand in the hourglass of our lives is dropping constantly, imperceptibly. It passes through the narrow neck that separates the upper chamber (the future) from the lower chamber (the past). Every moment sees another grain of sand leaving one bulb and dropping into the other bulb, becoming a thing of a former reality, a moment we can no longer hold. It is thus imperative that we become good stewards of our time while we have the chance.
For the sand is dropping, and will soon be gone. . .
Helping others succeed is not only a strategic imperative but a moral obligation. When we use our unique gifts to elevate the capabilities of others, we solidify our own capacity for greatness. Helping others succeed breeds leadership, which is the ability to rise to the events of the times. Further, helping others succeed spawns innovation, as those we assist start to see breakthroughs and new ways of producing results that were previously unheard of. Finally, helping others succeed brings a level of contentment to all parties that is unique in scope in that it transforms the zeitgeist of the times from a dog-eat-dog mentality to an abundance mentality.
And you can do it. . . .
Now go out and do it!
