balance achievement with significance

“How often do we stop and ask, ‘What is really important? What matters most to me?’ If every one of us starts asking this simple question, it will transform our daily lives and even the world in which we live. After all, we need clean air and water more than we need microwave ovens. Doing work that is meaningful and of service to others is more important than owning luxury cars. We need loving human relationships more than we need home entertainment systems.”

— Eknath Easwaran

If success is a bicycle, then its two wheels, without doubt, are achievement and significance. When these two spin together in synchronicity, moving forward and achieving meaningful milestones becomes inevitable. 

Success always has an equal footing in both the material and the spiritual. Along with external conquests, you must also pay attention to internal triumphs. 

Make sure that you balance ambition and drive with impact and contribution. After all, what’s the point of achieving remarkable things without having a remarkable impact?

We are all spiritual beings having a human experience. And at the end of our lives, what will matter the most is who we have become (our personal growth) — and the difference we have made (our contribution to humanity).

Did You Know?

The verb gloss, referring to a brief explanation, comes from Greek glôssa, meaning “tongue,” “language,” or “obscure word.” There is also the familiar phrase gloss over, meaning “to deal with (something) too lightly or not at all.” That gloss is related to Germanic glosen, “to glow or shine,” and comes from the noun gloss, which in English can refer to a shine on a surface or to a superficial attractiveness that is easily dismissed.