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If a man for whatever reason has the opportunity to lead an extraordinary life, he has no right to keep it to himself – Jacques Cousteau

In this last podcast of this series on putting your dreams to the test, we come now come to the significance question, Does My Dream Benefit Others? In other words are you willing to invest your life for this dream?
In his book Half Time, author Bob Buford writes, “the first half of life has to do with getting and gaining, learning and earning. The second half is more risky because it has to do with living beyond the immediate.” This book is about changing your game plan from success to significance.

I Want To Do Something Significant For Myself – This statement when read for the first time sounds selfish. Actually, it is not as selfish as you might think. How can you help someone else if you have not invested in yourself first. This is the first rule of leading well – you must have a personal growth plan for yourself. If you cannot articulate this plan in writing, you probably are only day-dreaming. The accomplishment of a significant dream only comes when a person has something to offer. It is difficult to invest in others when you are not investing in yourself!

I Want To Do Something Significant For Others – Here is a two part question that sets up an illustration about Mother Teresa. First the question; “What are you doing to invest in yourself, and what are you doing to invest in others? Let’s face it, success can cause people to be selfish. If you are not careful you will become a schemer in attempting to get from people rather than giving to people. In the book, Mother Teresa – Come Be My Light, reports in a letter she wrote about the potential success of Missionaries of Charity organization – “I don’t know what success will be, but if the Missionaries of Charity have brought joy to one unhappy home, made one innocent child from the street keep pure for Jesus, one dying person die in peace with God, it would be worth while offering everything for just that one, because that one would bring great joy to the Heart of Jesus.”

I Want To Do Something Significant With Others – Tom Brokaw once stated that it is easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference. People who want to achieve a significant dream with others must be able to help people embrace the same dream. When that happens it is a wonderful gift for all. If we can share a dream with others, it expands both their possibilities and our own.

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Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!