Hi Friend
I spent the week up in Minneapolis working and celebrating my friend and coach, Mark LeBlanc. He’s been in business 40 years and hosted a gathering of past and former clients, friends and family. When you’ve been investing in people’s lives as long as he has, even if by accident you’re gonna make a big impact in a lot of ways.
Obviously, he’s been very intentional. One person after another got up and spoke about how he believed in them, saw something in them and said what needed to be said. Who doesn’t want that kind of person in our life? Granted most of the time those individuals were paying him to do that, but it always costs to have someone in your life like that.
I haven’t needed him that way, but who he’s been in my life is exactly what I’ve needed in this season. He’s systematic, disciplined, thinks creatively and articulates a world of words with his own terminology. I’ve had to learn to speak LeBlancian language.
He’s incredibly generous too. When he was starting out in business he got a $3000 loan. Over a decade ago he started a foundation that gives $3000 scholarships to entrepreneurs under 30. He’s awarded 26 so far and plans on giving 100. The most recent winner was 14 years old. Ya gotta love that!
IMPACT
My date for that night is an elementary school teacher. She mentioned how amazing it was that Mark made such a significant difference in sooooooo many people’s lives. She regretted that she didn’t have that kind of legacy. I was like WHAAAAAATTT???? She’s been teaching for the last couple of decades. I was like “You’ve impacted 100’s of kids and families lives in a real way!”
It’s funny how we diminish our own impact when compared to someone else in a different walk of life. It’s interesting how we can look past our contribution to humanity, because there’s always someone else who has done it better. It’s unfortunate when we perceive our dent-in-the-universe to be negligent. Why do we do that?
DISAPPOINTMENT
We both know comparison will always leave us coming up short. However, our own self-disappointment is the primary culprit. We know all the good intentions, thoughts or ideas we’ve had about helping, serving or giving that we just haven’t followed through on. We know ways in which we could’ve sacrificed for someone else and didn’t. We know where & how we suck.
The way to become someone satisfied with our own contributions is to shift from being emotionally-centered to integrity-centered. We make a bunch of decisions, most actually, from how we feel in that moment. Integrity is first and foremost about making and keeping commitments to ourselves. That’s much much harder than it sounds.
We disappoint ourselves more than anyone else. Therefore, we layer up a catalog of missed opportunities.
Instigating Ideas…
1. Be generous with someone this week.
2. Acknowledge where you’ve made a positive impact this year.
3. Create a list of 5 people you admire. What characteristic jumps out?
4. Intentionally make an impact.
Mark has story after story about choices he’s made. He’s walked the Camino Trail (500 miles) three times and is doing his fourth next year. He does 30 burpees a day, no matter what. He’s over 27,000 in a row now. Someone asked him about having accountability in his life. His response was classic Mark. He said “My best accountability is that I track it!” He is so deeply integrity-centered that he’s motivated by seeing the progress, despite how he feels.
IGGY
I suspect it really only takes three things to live a life of impact: Integrity, Gratitude and Generosity. You and I can determine each one of those in our life. It’s not a gift, skill, talent or ability. It doesn’t matter how much we have or don’t have. It’s a conscious daily decision. I suspect if we make IGGY choices, we’ll compound a life of impact without even realizing it.
I hope this week you keep commitments you make to yourself, are grateful and find some way to be generous with your attention, time or money. I’m certain you’re making a bigger impact than you realize!