REAL ESTATE...AND OTHER THINGS OF VALUE: Greatness

Real Estate...and Other Things of Value with Yossi Feigenson

How can we define greatness? Is there even one single definition of greatness? How do we know if we have witnessed greatness? ? Is the ideal of attaining greatness something the common man can strive to achieve? And the biggest question of all; does everyone have the ability to achieve greatness?

Dr. Robert Solomon, a pioneer and leader in technology based thinking, has said that the population can be divided into three categories:

The first group consists of most of the population. For the most part, these are people who don’t have a strong sense of self awareness. They may be good, kind and productive, yet they don’t function with a sense of mission, a sense of purpose. These people are usually very influenced by popular culture. Their life is often lived by rote, they are not even sure they know why they do whatever it is they do. They are simply drifting along with the current of their circumstances. They also represent over 90% of our population.

Then there is the second group: People who have a sense of purpose to their lives. They plan for their lives and execute accordingly. They are usually well educated, and in the career of business of their choosing. They create their own circumstances. They are usually well read, have strong family ties, and have a sense of responsibility to community. This group represents 9.99% of the population.

This brings us to the last group. These are the elite. According to Solomon, you find about 1 in 10,000 people on this level. These are the uber humans. They are super achievers, leaders of industry and winners of various awards. They are often whom we refer to as great. We are awed in their presence. These people are often the rich and famous, but, just as often, they are folks living in obscurity, out of the public eye, yet, living their lives at an extreme level of consciousness.

Let’s take a look at one of our new heroes; the pilot, Chesley “Sulley" Sullenberger, who so ably piloted his plane into the Hudson River. It doesn’t take much imagination to understand that this story could have, and in many instances would have had a quite different outcome. The question is however, did Sully just instantly become great? Or was he preparing for this moment his entire life? And when his moment arrived he was ready to answer the call.

I instinctively understood that Chesley Sullenberger was a person that lived his life on a level, that when this moment came to him He was ready. Let’s explore a bit. He got his flying license at the ripe young age of 14. He mastered glider flying. He thoroughly investigated and studied flight disasters. He also studied the psychology of the crew in the cockpit. He was a pilot in the Air Force from 1973 until 1980. He is flying commercial airliners since 1980.

I think we are onto something.

Now let’s take a look at our new president, Barack Obama. It is startling to see how Mr. Obama has so carefully orchestrated events, prepared himself, and aligned himself for this moment. As far back as 1995 he had his sights on the oval office. He saw a vacuum of leadership, an opportunity for his charismatic personality to catapult him to where he is.

He penned what have now become, two best selling biographies. He wrote and delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic national convention. He was then tagged as one of the most influential politicians by Time Magazine. After the speech, Newsweek ran a cover of him with the caption “are we looking at the next president?

You see, greatness and heroism are often defined by a moment. Yet, in most cases it is a life of preparation in relative obscurity that allows the individual to seize the moment, and be labeled as great.

The big question that needs to be answered is what about the rest of us? A good friend of mine asked me how this can be applied to each and every individual. The vast majority of us go about our lives, our routines, trying to balance our family/work/community lives. Most of us will never be called upon to demonstrate greatness. But herein lies the essence.

This friend, David, works as a computer programmer for a well known, prestigious, global media company. I said to him: If you go about your business, always being on top of your particular area, the day may come when you see something come across your screen that can save the entire company. Will you be ready?

Our duty is to at the very least be in the top 9.9 percent, where we are performing on high levels, and, more importantly, growing through learning, reading, and self improvement and self awareness. And when the moment comes calling: Will we be there to heed the call?

####
Posted to THE NATIONAL NETWORKER. All rights reserved.
####
To subscribe for your free TNNW Newsletter, go to www.TheNationalNetworker.com. For the complete National Networker Relationship Capital Toolkit and a free continuous RSS feed (available either by traditional RSS or by direct email), go to: http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com.

You are also invited to click our buttons:




-------
Forward/Share This Article With Colleagues And Social Media:

REAL ESTATE...AND OTHER THINGS OF VALUE: Greatness