For years I have been aware that one of our most important and powerful drivers is the search for significance.
And this has a huge impact on our motivation, in our businesses, teams and organisations, as well as at home, with our families, friends, social circles.
So, how can you and I generate a sense of significance?
Here are just a few tips:
1. Write a journal… every day if possible, or at least every week. If you don’t feel the urge to write it, why not dictate it, or even just keep it as an audio file. Your personal journal makes every day significant in your personal journey. Journey, journal… you can see the link, I’m sure.
2. Write out your “Champagne Moment” at the end of each week, and any other highlights of the week for you. These might be small “wins” or they might be major events. What matters is that you are looking for, and thinking about, what has gone well, rather than the natural trait which is to be self-critical all the time.
3. Look for the lessons in everything that you do and everything that happens around you and to you.
4. Nurture your creativity. Exercising your creative spirit trains you to see beyond the obvious and find connections and significance. The business applications of this are legion.
5. Look for passion, fun, enthusiasm in everything. Chiefly, do one thing each day just for you – a hobby, or even just going for a walk. Take this personal time… it’s a way of acknowledging your own significance, and getting excited about your life. If you aren’t treating yourself as significant, or aren’t excited about your life, it’s unlikely others will either.
6. Become observant… really see things (as opposed to just looking at things) in a fresh light each day. This helps you develop an attention to detail in everything you do.
7. Make every conversation count, every action matter, every thought deliberate, meaningful and positive. What are you doing that could be considered to be MaD (Making a Difference).
8. Know what you are about: your values, your personal purpose, your strengths. Knowing what you stand for means that you can avoid/ ignore the clutter and focus on what’s important and significant to you.
9. Know your outline plan of how you are going to move from where you are now to where you want to get so that you can view your every day actions in the context of your journey… and see their significance.
10. Choose to be significant. Like most success traits, it begins with a choice, a decision. Decide, one day at a time, to be significant.
Wishing you every success.