We have spoken about what a life of significance is. It is about a calling, beyond success, fame or career. It is about living in light of a higher purpose, something that is beyond your own interests.
But what are the building blocks of a life of significance? How do you get there? We will outline in more detail each of these components in future blogs. The following is a summary.
It often starts with a crucible moment, typically a failure or a setback that can alter the course of your life. This crucible moment can refine us. We can wallow in our misfortune or let that crucible moment point us to a life of significance. Do you have to have a searing painful experience to lead a life of significance? No. But honest vulnerable reflection rarely takes place without such an experience in our fast paced busy lives.
To live a life of significance, we have to understand how we were designed. We need to have a clear picture of our gifts and our passions.
Once we understand how we are designed and what our passions are, we can set our vision. This is a vision that is grounded in our unique design, refined by our crucible moments, and based on a calling that is in line with our deep seated beliefs and passions.
Once we know where we are headed, a vision based on a calling that we feel deeply passionate about, we are well on our way to make our vision a reality. There will be challenges along the way, but the passion and the calling that fuels our vision, along with others we have invited to join us on the journey, will help us stay the course.
My Crucible Moment That Led Me to a Life of Significance
For me, my crucible culminated with the loss of family control of John Fairfax Ltd, the large Australian media business that had been in my family for 150 years. For more on this, see My Journey.
This was a searing moment in my life, a refining moment. I had thought my whole life that my calling was to one day take a leading position in the family media business.
What this crucible taught me was that the type of person needed to lead the family media company was more of a take charge leader. That was not me. That was not how I was designed. I am more of a reflective adviser.
I had tried to follow my father’s vision and my great great grandfather’s vision (the vision of John Fairfax who founded the family media company). That was a mistake. My vision now is based on who I am and what I am passionate about.
As a reflective adviser, I enjoy writing and executive coaching, as well as being on the boards of two faith based organizations whose missions I care about.
In short, my crucible has led me to lead a life of significance that is in line with who I am and what I feel called to.
Reflection
What are the building blocks for your life of significance?
How have you been refined and designed to lead a life of significance that you feel called to?
To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com.
Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and leave a comment at our YouTube channel and be sure subscribe and tell your friends and family about us.
Take the free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment to discover where you are on your journey of moving beyond your crucible and how to chart your personal course to a life of significance: https://beyondthecrucible.com/assessment/
Being All That You Are and Living Up to It
The central goal of Crucible Leadership is to help you embrace your crucible moments to lead a life of significance. But what is a life of significance? How will we know when we get there, when we are fully living a life of significance?
A life of significance is about more than career, and more than success. It is not about being wealthy enough to live a life of ease.
Is it about leaving a legacy? In part. A life of significance is about being all that you are and living up to everything you believe in. It is about combining your innate wiring and design with your passions to achieve something beyond yourself. It is not about you. It is about contributing to a higher purpose. It is about feeling called to a purpose, to a cause, that is important, that is beyond you. People of faith might term this, a calling that lines up with who God created them to be. You hear such people say they feel that it is God’s calling on their life. There is a sense of the eternal, that you are part of a great movement.
A Whole Life is Devoted to a Vision
William Wilberforce certainly led a life of significance. He was a British politician who lived in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. Wilberforce had an abiding faith that led him to advocate for the abolition of the slave trade and ultimately of slavery itself in the British Empire. The slave trade was abolished in 1807, while it took until days before Wilberforce’s death for slavery to be abolished in the British Empire in 1833. Wilberforce devoted his whole life to the cause of the abolition of slavery. He was an outgoing and charismatic politician, who was a good speaker. He could have achieved high office, either in the Cabinet or perhaps as Prime Minister. But Wilberforce felt leading a life of significance was about more than some political office. To Wilberforce, abolishing slavery was more important than high political office.
A Crucible Moment Leads to a Life of Significance
John Fairfax, my great great grandfather, led a life of significance as well. A key crucible moment came in 1836, when a local lawyer sued John Fairfax for an article written in John Fairfax’s paper in Leamington, England. Twice the lawyer sued, and twice the court ruled in John Fairfax’s favor. However, the court costs forced John Fairfax into bankruptcy. John Fairfax left England and took his family to Australia. There he bought a local paper, the Sydney Morning Herald, which became part of a large family media company. John Fairfax had a vision of a newspaper that would be vigorous and non-sectarian. As one biographer put it, “It would be without the reproach of self-interest, sworn to no master.” John Fairfax was a successful businessman and a beloved employer. He was an elder in his church. He was a much loved husband and father. John Fairfax led a life of significance in all areas of life, at work, in church and at home.
Impact Beyond Ourselves
William Wilberforce and John Fairfax undeniably led lives of significance. They undoubtedly felt they had a higher calling beyond success, fame or career.
They give us models of some of the core themes of a life of significance. It is about the cause or the calling, not about you. It is not about wealth or fame, it is about leading a life that is beyond your own interests. It involves somehow making a difference in the lives of others. Not many of us will live lives that are as prominent as William Wilberforce or John Fairfax. But well known or not, a life of significance can have a greater impact than we realize.
What is your calling?
What would it look like for you to lead a life of significance, to pursue a calling that is beyond yourself?
To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com.
Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and leave a comment at our YouTube channel and be sure subscribe and tell your friends and family about us.
Take the free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment to discover where you are on your journey of moving beyond your crucible and how to chart your personal course to a life of significance: https://beyondthecrucible.com/assessment/
