The Greatness Guide, Book 2: 101 More Insights to Get You to World Class (25 page)

In an issue of
Best Life
I came across a line from George Clooney: “You only have a short period of time in your life to make your mark.” Obvious? Maybe. Yet so true.

It’s easy to get so caught up in the daily administrivia that you forget about building your legacy. Easy to become so focused on your problems that you neglect to chase your ideals. Easy to get so pulled into the ordinary pursuits of life that you lose sight of the Extraordinary. Yet, life spins by at an alarmingly fast rate. And if you don’t use each day to do even one thing to make your mark and to advance your vision and to become your brilliance, you may miss what truly counts. Makes me think of the words of consultant Richard Leider, who observed, “People over 65 were asked ‘if you could live your life over, what would you do differently?’ They said three things: I’d take time to stop and ask the big questions. I’d be more courageous and take more risks in work and love. I’d try to live with purpose—to make a difference.” That says it all.

It is early morning as I write this. Relaxing in my library. Listening to Luciano Ligabue, an extraordinary Italian rock star who I got turned on to in Rome and whose music has been shaking the foundation of our home for the past few weeks. And I’m reflecting—about leadership and life.

Just read a little piece in an issue of
Vanity Fair
on Art Buchwald, the writer, who is now 80 and battling kidney failure. Coming close to death brings a human nearer to what’s most important in life. Brings tremendous clarity. Strips away all the accessories that we think are so essential when we are younger. Connects us with the Truth (and the truth sets us free, doesn’t it?).

He was asked, “What is your idea of perfect happiness?” “Being healthy” was the reply. He was asked, “Which talent would you most like to have?” “Living” was the reply. Then he was asked, “What is your most treasured possession?” “All of my writing—my 32 books and all of my columns.” The point of wisdom that you and I can take away? Greatness comes when you create something with your life that is not only bigger
than you but outlasts you. Legitimacy and recognition and prestige and material things are all fine and are all very human pursuits. But there’s something far more important: Legacy. Making a difference. Having an impact. Creating something special. And meaningful.

What Body of Work will you create over your life so that the generations who follow will know that you’ve been here? What bold acts and brave moves will you make This Very Moment to let the greatness that slumbers within you come out and visit the light of This Very Day? What will your “most treasured possession” look like? And, at the end, what will you have done with all that talent with which you’ve been blessed? Just wondering.

I’m reading a beautiful book on Nelson Mandela, a man I admire enormously. A visionary. A freedom fighter. An amazing example of the heights to which human beings can rise. (He invited three of his jailers to his inauguration as president of South Africa—how’s that for forgiveness?)

I wanted to share part of the introduction from Bill Clinton, as it speaks to the path you and I—as dreamers, Leaders Without Title and human beings devoted to our best—are on:

“Every time Nelson Mandela walks into a room we all feel a little bigger, we all want to stand up, we all want to cheer, because we’d like to be him on our best day.”

Someone reading this book today will walk out into their world and do something that will get them to their Next Level of Greatness. Someone near you will make the decision over the coming hours to raise their standards and step up to their highest potential. Someone around you will start something—even if it appears to be a little gesture—that over time will cause breathtaking improvements and results in the way their life looks, in all its dimensions. Why not make that person you?

Forget what anyone’s ever told you. Stop listening to the small thinkers. Muffle the voices of the critics. Get to the truth: You are meant to play big with your life. To go out there and be remarkable. No,
extraordinary.
And every time you refuse to listen to that call, you betray yourself.

So honor you. Make this day—and your life—a special and unforgettable one. One tiny step truly can result in gigantic consequences over time. Remember who you truly are, and all you have been built to be: a Leader Without Title, a Rare-Air human being—and someone who made things better. I’ll leave you with the words of philosopher Marcus Aurelius, who said, “To live each
day as though one’s last, never flustered, never apathetic, never attitudinizing—here is the perfection of character.” Wonderfully said. I wish you Greatness.