Happy, happy 4th of July, Fire Nation!
I’ll start off by saying that I hope you have an amazing line-up for this holiday weekend that includes spending time with family and friends. Whether you’re by the beach, in the mountains, at a BBQ or somewhere in the desert, may your stomach be full and your spirits high. (And hopefully come nighttime, you’ll be in a good spot to catch a killer fireworks show!)
I’m lucky enough to live in an area where I can walk out of my front door and watch a fireworks show almost every night.
I live across the bay from Sea World in San Diego, and all through the summer – and pretty regularly during the winter, too – they do a fireworks show right around 9:50pm each night. And, that’s exactly where I’ll be tomorrow evening for the 4th of July fireworks show as well – now that’s what I call convenience!
What’s your definition of greatness?
Anyhow, I happened to be out watching the fireworks the other night, and I couldn’t help but think about “greatness”. Not just the greatness of the fireworks show, but the greatness of my location, the greatness of my ability to walk out of my door and witness this particular show, the greatness of the weather… the greatness of life, really.
Then, I asked myself, if this is the way I define “greatness” – everything from moments in time, to location, to my life itself – how do other people define “greatness”?, and how does ones go about achieving “greatness”?
Because I was genuinely interested in these questions, I started looking around for some answers. I was on a hunt to find out how other people define greatness, and/or how they think one might achieve greatness, so I could maybe start to look at it in other ways.
I started with Lewis Howes’ podcast, The School of Greatness, which provided great (no pun intended) depth, interesting conversations and insights into greatness that I’ve never even thought of before.
James Altucher and Don Yaeger are two of my recent favorites, both of whom have amazing journeys to share and quite a lot of experience with greatness.
In addition to Lewis’ podcast, I also found a lot of the answers to my questions in the form of quotes. On this great day of greatness, I thought I’d share a few of my favorites with you…
“Greatness is when [in] every moment, you choose yourself rather than relying on the past or future to choose you. Rather than relying on anyone else in the world to choose you.” Priscilla Wood
“No great man ever complains of want of opportunity.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.” William Shakespeare
“Let us consider the nature of true greatness in men. The people who can catch hold of men’s minds and feelings and inspire them to do things bigger than themselves are the people who are remembered in history. . . those who stir feelings and imagination and make men struggle toward perfection.” Henry Eyring
