Greatness

Greatness Is All Around Us.

The only thing better than sharing one inspiring story is sharing several, which is why I’m so passionate about my newest book — GREATNESS. It was truly an amazing experience bringing all of these stories together in one place to help others grow. But what most don’t know is that this book project started because of this monthly Greatness newsletter, when publisher Harry Helm approached me with a larger vision for these monthly e-mails than I’d ever even dreamed of myself.

Over the past four years, the Greatness newsletter has become one of my most treasured projects. It has allowed me to connect with people and share extraordinary experiences as well as hear your stories of true Greatness. Even more than that, however, has been the wonderful gift of getting to actually interact with Greatness while preparing these newsletters — to see it in action and to be a part of it so I could pass the lesson along.
The past few months leading up to this holiday season have been full of incredible moments that have reminded me over and over again of the many faces of Great winners. I was able to be a part of a heart-rending Habitat for Humanity Discussing Make-A-Wish Foundation with Annika Sorenstam fundraiser in Denver that raised enough to buy a new house for a single-parent family; the event was the inspiration of the CEO of Zunesis who heard the story of Warrick Dunn’s Homes for the Holidays program. I had a chance to sit down with champions like Kurt Warner and Annika Sorenstam to talk about their experiences with the Make-A-Wish Foundation for a book that we are writing to help support that group and their tremendous work with seriously ill children. I was privileged enough to be honorary chair of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night walk in my hometown of Tallahassee, even as many of you wrote to tell me you were participating in similar events in your own communities.

But this picture of Greatness hasn’t just been confined to big, bold high-profile gestures — I’ve witnessed it in the quiet interactions of day-to-day living, too. I’ve seen employers like Softmart in Pennsylvania arrange a non-traditional team-building Building Bikes at Softmart exercise assembling bicycles for needy children; watched attendees at events like the Florida Recreation and Park Association annual conference gather dozens of cans for a food drive supporting an Orlando charity; and seen companies like Everything Channel encourage conference attendees to come to their event a day early to aid families of wounded soldiers by donating technology to improve their lives.
When Centre Street publisher Harry Helm first approached me about expanding the newsletter format into a book about Greatness, it was both exciting and daunting. What a wonderful opportunity to detail the habits of even more Great winners! But on the other hand, I had to wonder how difficult it might be to find new stories — now I had to fill 240 pages — that truly exemplify the spirit of the effort. After all, it seems that the sports pages these days are filled more than ever with reports of people who have chosen poorly, who have decided to pursue something other than Greatness, who have acted in a selfish or damaging way, who have let their opportunity to do right pass them by. As I’m sure you agree, it can be tremendously discouraging.

But my fears were easily assuaged. The more I looked, the more Greatness I saw…Greatness often missed in the busy-ness of our everyday life. This time of year is full of opportunities to serve, to lend someone a hand, to reach out to a lonely neighbor or do something — anything — for a child. As the year draws to a close, it is a perfect Light the Night Walk with my wife, son and daughter! time to look back at any opportunity you believe you missed to do something Great for another. Use this season as a reason to re-create that moment. Do something out of your comfort zone and do it for others. Take steps to make it happen. As the wise Ghandi often said, “Be the change you want to see.”

The potential for Greatness is in all of us. My challenge to you today, and every day, is that we choose to act on that potential. Pursue Greatness in everything you do. Greatness is a lifestyle — and choosing it impacts both you and those around you.