The greatest tragedy of our time.
We always judge ourselves inadequate and unfit to make a difference. Mandela put it best. Our greatest fear is not being inadequate but being powerful behind measure. Who are we to be fun, inspiring, beautiful, successful?
Here’s an interesting and random stat. There are always at least 70 million people who are looking up to you in terms of your experience and achievement. (I’m fairly confident the real number is higher but this is a rough approximation).
The older, the more experienced, the more achieved you are, this number is likely to be closer to 10 fold.
So, what are we waiting for?
Let’s volunteer for that charity, work for that not-for-profit, go back to schools and spend time with kids who aren’t daring to dream, teach sports/music/art to those younger than us, mentor that young colleague who is just getting started, reach out to that older colleague who is finding his feet, inspire those much more experienced with our hunger, energy and willingness to make mistakes, start a blog and blog every day or even just be out there and show up with the best possible versions of ourselves.
The options are endless. We live at a time when we can actually reach out to many more fellow humans than ever possible.
No excuses.
Oh, and if you are already doing some of these, great job! The test is two fold – are you doing what you can do often enough? And are you helping bring more to the fold and inspiring them to do little acts of greatness?
The good news is that one little act completes the transformation.
Many little acts performed consistently is how great acts are performed, after all.
PS: As is the case with such things, failure is guaranteed. And as is the case with failure, the power of the experience grows on you..
A Learning a Day 