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On Becoming Significant

Three terms are important if we’re going to figure out how to manage our work and life: urgent, important, and significant.  

Urgent means, “How soon does it matter?”

Important means, “How much does it matter?”

Significant means, “How long will it matter?”

It’s easy to see that “significant” is where we want to spend the most time. Still, most of us are stuck in a frenzied cycle of chasing urgency and importance. 

People who live significant lives regularly ask, “What can I do today that has lasting value?”

When my oldest daughter was four, I realized I had drifted away from prioritizing my role as a father.

Wanting to change, I asked myself, “What do I want my daughter to say about me at my funeral?” 

I wrote this tribute: “My Daddy loved me unconditionally. He taught me to love God and other people by living it in his daily walk. He was my hero.”

With what felt like simple changes in the right places, I dramatically improved the quality of the relationships in my life. I blocked out personal time with family on my calendar because I was done letting life’s urgencies crowd out the significant.

On Father’s Day 2010, I received this note from my then twenty-something daughter.

“… You have been a steadfast, strong, and stable influence in my life … someone I could always lean on. You have shown me what it means to truly be humble and let God take over your life … You are a hero.”

She didn’t know it, but her words mirrored the statement I’d written nearly twenty years earlier. To me, that’s significant. 

Ronnie, somebody’s hero

Watch Today’s Video

Act: How have you let the urgent crowd out the significant? What will you add to or take off your calendar?