Success or Significance?

I recently started reading a biography about the great coach Lou Holtz.  Amazing coach and an amazing man.  He has been a mentor to thousands, I am sure, and I am certain he will have another fan after I finish his book.  I was just a few pages in when he hit me with this thought provoking statement...
"Are you striving to be successful or are you striving to be significant?"

After reading this over and over and letting it sink in, I pondered the broad meaning and immediately evaluated myself.  He goes on to say the obvious that success last while you're here or for the moment, but significance can last multiple lifetimes.  It kind of goes along with leaving your legacy and what kind of legacy you will leave.

Here's my take on this.  Success is something many of us strive for.  I get up every morning hoping I can be successful in my business and my relationships with others.  I want people to look at me and think success.  I have been successful in many of the endeavors I have partnered myself with but guess what...eventually I had to move on and work to be successful elsewhere.  With the contrast in success versus significance I had to ask myself if I left some significance on the road to success.  In other words, how do others view and remember me?  Do they smile when they remember me or do they frown?  Is it somewhere in between?

Remember as a kid when we wanted attention and we would do anything to get it.  The problem was we never analyzed the kind of attention we might get.  In the end, however, any attention was better than none.  Significance can kind of be that way.  What we do, how we do what we do, and who we are determines our significance.  I know I want to be in the good significance line.  I would like to know that when I am in my final days that people will have been touched by my presence and my positive influence.
Now, I may never be a Lou Holtz but if I will be the best Gene Ramsay I can be...if I can strive to be the best there is at whatever I do...if I work to make a difference and to be positively significant then I may just be as much as  motivator in someone's life.  That's significance.  That's leaving something that matters long after success has faded.

The following video may be a little long (a little over 8 minutes) but I feel it's worth it for us all to watch and consider.  "The 7 Principles of Leaving a Legacy"...