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Most likely, we will not stand on the world’s largest sports stage and hold up the Super Bowl trophy for the fifth time like Tom Brady.
Most likely, we will not build the most profitable and recognizable company in the history of business like Steve Jobs.
Most likely, we will not be called the wisest and richest man of all times like King Solomon.
But we all aspire to that sort of success, don’t we? Isn’t that what life is all about? Pursuing your dreams and reaching higher?
The business world is filled with people who chant, “You can always get better, reach higher, and mount the summit of success if you just work harder, dream bigger, and run faster!” The irony is these business coaches, business gurus, and business [fill in the blank] have never mounted the summit themselves. They aspire, like most, to eventually get there if their lucky. But in the process, it seems to me that they lead countless entrepreneurs and executives up a path that often leads to disappointment.
So I asked myself, what do the people at the top say once they’ve reached the summit of success? When they evaluated their journey and their newly claimed “victory,” what advice or observations did they have looking down? What is the summit really like? What are we going to get when we get where we’re trying to go?
“I’m making more money now that I ever could have imagined. Why do I still have three Super Bowl rings and still think there’s something greater out there for me?…I sit here and think, God, there has to be more than this!?” – Tom Brady after winning his third Super Bowl.
“My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.” – Steve Jobs reflecting back on his life.
“I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge... I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” – King Solomon upon reaching the summit of all earthly success.
“Warren Buffett has always said the measure of success is whether the people close to you are happy and love you.” – Bill Gates on what measures success (two for one!).
King Solomon had a simple recipe for enjoying life. “So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot.”
When the select few have mounted the summit most of us are trying to reach, it seems their advice is to enjoy the journey. Time and people are the most precious things we have and at the end of the day, it’s not about where we end up, it’s about every step we took getting there.
This is a topic I’m realizing I could dedicate my life to studying and writing about, but as I begin this journey, I am at least compelled to pause and reevaluate what I am pursuing and what or who I am sacrificing to pursue it. I can easily get tunnel vision and measure my success on only accomplishing my goals.
I need to be more critical of the advice I hear or read. Am I listening to aspiring “mountain climbers” who have never reached the summit of success or am I tweaking my life based off of leaders who have truly reached that summit?
I have a lot to learn about success and my hope and prayer is I learn from the right people and enjoy this journey. I don’t want to mount the summit and say, “Is there something greater out there for me?”
Written by Zach Santmier
Co-Owner @ Trumble Insurance Agency
Zach is the Co-Owner and manager at Trumble and focuses on positioning Trumble as the best choice for home and auto insurance. Zach is the author of Quarterback The Sale: Lead the Play from Snap to Touchdown. His book focuses on the importance of providing a high level of leadership in the sales process so that clients are left surprised and delighted by the ease of doing business with a true sales quarterback.