The Unexamined Life Part One of Living for Real

Dean Rotbart once told me that a person can do well without doing good. It took me a beat to grasp his meaning, but then it hit me and I’ve never forgotten it.

“Doing well” is financial. It’s about you.

“Doing good” is personal. It’s about others.

And the difference you’ve made in their lives.

Mia Erichson says success and significance are like that, too.

Success is about you. It’s about the things you’ve achieved, the honors you’ve won and the money you’ve made.

Significance is about others.

And the difference you’ve made in their lives.

Princess Pennie shoots an arrow into the heart of the matter when she names the three things we all want to make: “Everyone wants to make money, a name, and a difference,” she says. “But what separates us is the one we want a little more than the other two.”

When you make money, you achieve wealth.

When you make a name, you achieve fame.

When you make a difference, you achieve change.

Someone asked me the other day what I thought of a certain rich man who decided he ought to be President of the United States. I said, “He’s done well for himself and is successful. But he seems to be living an unexamined life.”

I’m not really talking about rich men and politics.

I’m talking about you.

I’m talking about me.

Are we living unexamined lives?

Yes, it’s possible to be both successful and significant.

But if I could choose to be only one of these, which would it be?

Would I bring wealth to myself? Would I choose to make a life of ease and pleasure?

Or would I bring change to the world? Would I choose to make a difference?

No, I’m hiding from the real question.

The question isn’t, “What would I choose?”

The question is, “What have I chosen?”

Roy H. Williams