“No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and she be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Do you want to make a difference in the world? Or are you content just existing in your daily routine? 

If you want to make a difference in the world, start with your world. With over 7 billion people in the world, very few people, if any will really impact all the different languages, cultures and groups. While it is noble to feel such a way, if you really want to make a difference: start with those people right around you.

What you do is important. It may not feel that way. It may never be appreciated. So, you have to get over those things. In essence, you have to get over yourself. You are the biggest obstacle to making a difference in the world–starting with your world. Those that have had the greatest impact in the world, were the ones that learned how to make those around them feel the most significant.

I’ve walked in the shadows of a few great and noble men whose influence grew with each step they took. These men had several things in common:
1 – When they spoke to you, they made you feel like you were the most important person in the world.
2 – They did not gravitate towards the powerful people, but towards the common people. They loved people, especially normal, boring or unloved ones.
3 – They always took time to encourage the ones they were talking to or were looking for someone to encourage. They had learned to live without the need for others to encourage them.
4 – They did not seek greatness, recognition or reward. Rather, they sought to fulfill their mission, their duty or their task.
5 – They were largely unaffected by criticism or appreciation. They lived in the spotlight but not for the spotlight.
6 – They really enjoyed helping others. Their help was genuine and their motivations were authentic.
7 – They were generous. Pretty simple, they were givers, not takers.

It was almost as if they were with us, but not one of us. Things that seem to affect us all in a negative way, moved them in a different way. They viewed what they did, no matter who would or wouldn’t see it was all important, all significant and all of major importance. Time was a commodity they understood and made the most of it.

The world is a hard, broken and nasty place. People are getting angrier, more mean-spirited and jaded. Pressure and stress are mounting. Insecurity and uncertainty are growing. The people that have the most significant impact are the ones that step through these forces give of themselves with no thought of return.

You work in a boring job with mean people and never get thanked. You see your future as a dead-end or uncertain or unsatisfying. What you do is sapping your strength. Then I have a solution for you: Change your mindset!

Start by doing everything you do with excellence. People that make an impact are always excellent people. Excellence is the launching pad of inspiration. People aren’t inspired by sloppy, haphazard and inconsistent work or performance. People are inspired by a marriage that has spanned more than 60 years or the mother who has been a lifelong caregiver to her 40 year old son with cerebral palsy. People are inspired by those who give there lives to secure the life of another. People are inspired by stories of real people who really made it, who really did and who maintained to the end. People don’t need concepts, ideas or wishes. People need people. 

When I was 16, my family moved from a very small town to a very large city. This was my junior year of high school, I was popular, top of my class and a three sport letterman. I hated my new high school. I resented my parents for the move. I felt lost amidst the bells of changing classes and new faces. Enter, Mrs. B. J. Hayes, my 11th grade AP English teacher. She changed my world. How did she change my world? My first assignment in my new school, amidst my genius peers (I was the new guy looking like Luke Perry and Jason Priestly from Beverly Hills 90210) and Mrs. Hayes singled me out. I was horrified. She held up my paper and proceeded to tell the class that she had discovered a writer—despite my embarrassment, I believed her. It was my favorite class. She gave me a lifeline. She breathed life into me and stirred a dream deep within me. 

Many people start well. Many people get stronger during the race. Many people jump in half way through. But, few actually finish well. The finish line is the story. What story are you telling? You are always finishing a chapter and beginning a new one. Because you have a bad chapter, read on. Those who make a significant impact in their world does this thing better than others: they finish well. Your focus must be on the finish line. Stop focusing on the applause, the recognition, the appreciation or the reward. Focus on the next step. You can’t run race until all the steps have been taken.

Change your world. Change your mindset. Go change someone’s day. Go make someone smile. Go give something away. Go give someone a compliment. Go encourage someone. Go bring someone flowers. Go write a thank you note to the person who never gets thanked. Go give someone a hug and say “thank you.”

Thinking about changing your world will never change your world. Planning to change your world will never change your world. But, stepping out and doing something will set in motion change that’s necessary for your world’s transformation. It’s not chance that determines your destiny, it’s the choices you make, the choices combined with excellence that will shape your destiny.

Focus on being the best version of you. You can’t be anyone else. You can’t fix anyone else—so, stop trying! Just work on being a more generous you, a kinder you, a gentler you, a more loving you, a more giving you, a more encouraging you, a more hopeful you, a harder working you or a more excellent you. Excellence is attractive.

“Do you see a man skillful (excellent) in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.” Proverbs 22:29

Get to work being more skilled or excellent at is that you do. If you make fishhooks, be the best fishhook maker. If you are a parent, don’t be your parent, be the best parent for your child. If you sell coffee filters, sell them better than anyone else. If you change diapers, do it better than anyone else. If you scoop waffle fries, do it better than anyone else. If you say the same thing 500 times a day, make sure the 501st time is as good as the first.

You are significant. What you do is significant. You serve significant people. Now, go change your world.