Living a Life of Significance
It's been said "Those who mistake success with significance will live a deeply unfulfilled life." So when the cardiologist at Primary Children's Hospital said, "Your son has days to live" I fell to my knees as a broken man, but I was determined to make the days that remained matter for my son. Nothing I had accomplished in life, or ever hoped to achieve, compared to the love I had for my son. I would have given everything I had, or could ever hope to be, to save him.
Rewind the clock about a year before my son's fatal prognosis; I was invited to help launch a values-based productivity company whose mission was to help people live productive, deliberate and meaningful lives. I was not looking for something to do - I was plenty busy with two successful companies and a lifestyle I very much enjoyed. However, the prospect of helping people live a life of significance was so great, I set aside everything to see this vision come to pass. It wasn't but a few months after we started the venture when I discovered my10-year-old son was suffering premature heart failure as a result of DMD - a fatal, catastrophic muscle wasting disease. We were supposed to have another ten years with him, but it turned out we had ten months.
When we learned of his heart failure, there was no way of knowing how much time we had; I just knew time was more precious than I previously understood.
As we were starting this company, little Mitch came to work with me from time-to-time and often said, "Dad, I like that you are helping people." At my core, that is all I ever wanted to do - not just for my son and family, but everyone.
You see, my greatest joys in life were not cashing checks but living a life of significance ... helping people discover what mattered most to them and then to help them do something about it. I was doing this long before my son became sick - but this new company channeled everything I had learned in my previous 24 years into a singular focus.
Despite my efforts to help people, when my son entered the cardiac intensive care unit for end-stage heart failure I began to take stock of my life. Had I really lived a life of significance? Had I been the husband I should have been? What kind of dad had I become? I began to think about things I wish I would have done - or done differently. Being human, I discovered moments of regret. My heart was pained over missed opportunities - but it was also relieved that I did more things right than I did wrong. I tried to live a life of significance; that is to say, to do things that mattered.
When I finally said goodbye to my son, I came to realize in the harshest terms how finite life and time had become. The truth is, there isn't much time on this earth - so we had better make it count for something.
I have carried the weight of grief for three years. My son is gone, and the mission we set out to accomplish has finally become a reality. I have since recognized that there are no coincidences in life and that this unexpected company is my life mission. It is the fusion of my professional and life experience - all aimed at helping people live a life of significance.
Whatever paths life takes us, we can live a life of significance. We don't need to start companies or do some public thing. In fact, to live a life of significance is invisible in almost every respect.
- It is the meaningful time and attention we invest with our loved ones
- Those unseen moments we mentor someone who seeks advice and wants to grow
- It is grooming leaders to replace us, instead of playing king of the hill
- It's taking time to reflect on our core values, then take meaningful steps to live them
At the end of the day, our riches will crumble to the earth, and our pride will turn to dust - and our only legacy will be the impact we have had on others, especially those who are closest to us.
I want you to look back on your life a year from now, or a lifetime from now, and be glad you lived the life you lived. That is the promise of mycore. That is my promise to you.