Life with Rudy

The Other Way

As you go through life, I encourage you not to seek out to be a success. No need to read it again, because chances are you got it right the first time, but never-the-less I’ll say it again: as this life passes by and as time seems to evaporate ahead of us, I encourage you, and warn you not to seek out to be successful.

Most of you probably think I’m crazy and are pretty sure you have good reason to think so, but I assure you I think I’m right on the mark. You probably wish you could just stop reading right now and turn the page, but something deep down inside of you is forcing you to go on and find out why I’m saying what I’m saying. I can’t tell you for sure what that is, but something about the whole warning you against success has got you interested, because perhaps, just perhaps, the person I’m talking to, is you.

I’m willing to guess there are those of you reading this column right now and your life’s goal has been the exact opposite of what I just said. You’ve probably spent your entire life thinking it was your job to be successful. You’ve looked at others around you who have things you don’t have, who drive a nicer car, live in a nicer house, wear nicer clothes and go on longer vacations, and you’ve actually said to yourself, or maybe even someone else: “I wish I was like them.”

You’ve envied day and night over the person more successful than you, and you’ve been determined to be successful to help those you care about. Your family is counting on you to be successful, to provide for their needs, and yes, even their wants. You’re under constant pressure from society to be successful since you have things thrown in your face day after day, minute after minute, second after second that almost screams necessity success to you. But I’m warning you, and advising you right now: don’t fall for it.

We’re living in a world today where success comes too easy. We’re living in a society where the thought of success is measured by what you have in your wallet and what you know in your mind. Bill Gates and Donald Trump are considered successful because they can write a check for $50 Million dollars and not feel their pocket get any lighter. Oprah Winfrey is considered successful because she can’t go anywhere in the world and not be recognized. Wayne Gretzky is considered successful, Michael Jordan is considered successful, Tiger Woods is considered successful, I can think of two dozen people right now living in Fort McMurray who are successful. But it means nothing.

Folks, as you go through this life every single day, whatever you do, don’t try to be successful. Be significant.

Around this time of year you’ll notice heaps of teenagers gearing up to head for college and university. Student loans are approved, acceptance letters have been sent out, and the boxes of Kleenex have been bought, as mom and dad say good bye to their son or daughter who are off into the “real world”. I hate to say it, but I have to speak the truth: the majority of teenagers today are going to college and university with the state of mind “I have to be successful.” Folks, it’s an awful thing to say from my perspective, but take it from someone who’s been there and have heard the lectures from recruitment officers who visit your teenager’s high school. Take it from someone who’s read the brochures, who’s seen the catalogues, and have almost fallen for the trick they try to get you with: the idea that in order for this life to count, you need a letter after your name, you need this much education, you need, you need, you need, but parents, whatever you do, DO NOT tell your teenagers to strive for success, but set them on the right path, and encourage them to be significant.

You see, anyone can be successful. The reason, is because it doesn’t take much to reach a level of success by the worlds standards. If you make this amount of dollars a year you’re successful, if this many people ask for your autograph you’re successful, if every Tom, Dick and Harry in the western hemisphere knows your shoe size, you’re successful. Anyone can be successful. It takes someone special to be significant.

If you walk into a store with a thousand dollars in your pocket, you may think you’re on cloud nine thanks to a few pictures of the queen, but friends, I assure you that if in that same store you can strike up a conversation with someone who’s having a rough day and needs someone to cheer them up, and when you walk away from that person they’ve got a smile on their face from ear to ear, and you know you’ve cheered them up, and you’ve just made their day, THAT casts a shadow on your pocket book the size of the CN Tower. As I said, success is determined by what you have in your wallet and what you know in your mind, but significance is determined by what you have in your heart and what you know in your soul.

Your purpose in life is not to just make money, buy cool things and die. You are not here to be successful; you are here to be significant!

Some of you, like I said have probably lived your life with that thought. “I have to be successful, I must be successful, and being successful is the only way.” No it’s not. I’m here today to tell you there IS another way – a better way. A way that has a better outcome for everyone involved, but it only comes when you STOP trying to be successful, and START trying to be significant.

It’s up to you, and it’s not too late.