
Make a Difference by Utilizing Resources Efficiently
“Regardless of whatever I do, I know what my purpose is: to make a difference in people’s lives.” — Tim Tebow
What does it mean to make a difference? It is the ability of each individual to utilize the resources that they have access to so that they can make their community a better place. The best way to do that is to harness the talents and skill sets that a person has while continually increasing their knowledge base by tapping into the intellectual capital of those around them.
We know that we are able to appropriate our resources accordingly when we use them to create more resources rather than diminish them. It is when we do this that we are able to create a self-sustaining entity for good. When we develop something that takes care of itself while taking care of our society, we have produced a commodity that can change the world.
In order to do this efficiently we can’t be wasteful with our time, our money, or even the way we market and choose to produce our product or service. It is our responsibility to the other members of our community to ensure that we don’t waste the resources that we have access to. The social impact we are able to make is dependent upon being frugal with what we have while continually working to create something new.
If we just focus on the profit and not on the social impact we can make, our driving force will only be money. As much as we may enjoy having access to capital, we won’t be driven as hard because sometimes money does not have enough inherent value for which we are willing to sacrifice our time.
When our purpose for working is instead other people, we are less likely to take the easy way out because it is no longer what, but for whom we are working. This inevitably increases the value proposition that a company is able to provide to its customers as well as to its employees. People want to buy from and work for an organization that is unafraid of the unknown, unafraid of creating something new because they are buying and working for something larger than just themselves.
When we focus on making a difference we are forced to be more productive across the board. Having a bigger purpose for why you get up in the morning and work so hard each day will undoubtedly increase your company’s profits as a bi-product. When we are working for others we can’t waste a single second, we can’t waste a single resource along our journey.
It is when we concentrate only on the money that we allow ourselves to cut corners and to be destructive with our environment because unknowingly we trade human prosperity for an increase in the quarterly dividends. The amazing thing is that our profits will increase so much more so when we no longer have it as our focal point.
Making a difference in the lives of those around you starts with a psychological shift from working just for oneself to working for everyone else. We rationalize at times that it is okay to let ourselves down by not working as hard but it is much harder to do so when we are laboring for one another.
How each one of us makes a difference will differ because we all have unique skill sets. Our diversity is one of the great things about this world that we live within. It is the collective good that we are able to generate when we realize our purpose in life that allows us to make our communities better together. It’s easy to get lost on the journey to figuring out what it is we were meant to do, what it is we were meant to be. But the guiding light should always be how we can make the largest impact on those around us, because when we do so, we will find that everything else will fall into place.
It’s not about what we do, it’s about who we do it for. We are not just what we continually do, we are who we will never stopping for. Today is the day to make a difference in the lives of those around you so that you can be a part of the change you’ve always wanted to see.
