The Deceiving Nature of 'Striving for Greatness'

Who does not want to be great? Everyone wants greatness! Everyone desires to be great, the whole world strives for greatness but what is greatness?Each one of us is born to fulfill a purpose. Each one of us is born with intelligence and unique abilities; equipped for the journey here on earth. Each one of us is created and designed for a special mission and entrusted with a race, skin color, and unique talents. Indeed each one of us carries something nobody else has.Each one of us is wired distinctively different with exceptional instincts and perspectives. You are living on earth at this very moment strategically for one specific mission. Concocted DNA to form a custom ‘you.’ Purposefully paired genes to create who you are with a unique personality. A categorically distinguished destiny is pulling every individual; we owe it to ourselves to reach our future.Now, the goal is to reach our destiny, and we reach our destiny by being great. But, society has twisted this equation and made us believe that ‘Greatness’ is ‘destiny'. Meaning, we ought to strive to reach the highest pinnacle in life and call it greatness. That’s a lie.

The truth about ‘striving for greatness’ in society.

‘Striving for greatness’ is not what you think it is. ‘Striving for greatness’ is a self-centered motivational slogan people use to accomplish their goals and be esteemed above others. The equation for ‘Striving for greatness’ is simple. 'Striving for greatness' involves destroying everyone and climbing on their backs as ladders to reach the highest pinnacle of life. How many people have we seen in our societies robbing, killing and destroying others for success?Unfortunately, everybody desires to be great, that is because we view ‘greatness’ as a goal or destiny. We now call our achievement ‘greatness.’Nowadays people view greatness as accomplishments and achievements. Meaning, greatness is a 'reward.' People are now accustomed to achieving something to bank in an induction in the Hall of Greatness. But that is incorrect. We don't accomplish something to be great; instead, we need greatness to achieve something distinct.The human life principle suggests that we can't achieve anything in life if we don't have greatness. Meaning, we need greatness to achieve something. Greatness comes first, and achievement comes after. Achievements and accomplishments are the byproducts of greatness.The global society encourages us to chase after greatness so we can distinguish ourselves from others. Sadly, that mentality causes us to labor hard to look different, burning out hard to be better than others based on our achievements. 'Striving for greatness' makes us think others are our competition.We now torture ourselves to accomplish more to prove something. Unfortunately, sometimes we strive for greatness to prove ourselves right to people who don’t even care.

Society has accustomed us to view greatness as:

• The cars we drive
• The jobs we have and promotions
• Friends we have
• Relationships and partnerships
• Marriage
• The house we own and the places we live
• The amount of stamps we have on our passports
• How much we have in our bank accounts
• The level of studies we have achieved and our qualifications
• The churches and the club we are members of
• Number of followers we have on social media

Greatness has now become tangible things we have. We have been able to differentiate between who is great and, who is not great on the basis of achievements. As a result, If that is what ‘Striving for greatness’ is all about then, we'll call it selfishness. If greatness is what you need to achieve something, then greatness is not tangible.

Related Post: Striving vs. Thriving

Greatness is something that is within you. Greatness is a machine, the drive and the energy behind your achievements and accomplishments. The perfecter of your crafts is greatness within you. What has already set you apart is the greatness in you. The unique ability in you is your greatness. So you don’t need to go striving for greatness. There is already greatness in you; all you need to do is turn into yourself and unleash that greatness. Each one of us is wired, built, created with greatness. The unique instinct, sensitivity, energy, feelings, and intelligence that is what sets us apart from everybody else. And that is greatness.

Greatness can also be rewarding.

Greatness is a special gift; each one of us has inherited. Let’s use greatness to fulfill the very purpose we live for. The Urban dictionary describes ‘Greatness’ as 1. the deeds of people who make this world a better place and 2. those who contribute to a greater purpose than themselves. In other words, those who care for others by using their abilities to serve others. (Providing purpose to those who have no purpose.) The real essence of greatness is through what we do for others. In fact, if striving for greatness is all about making you better than others, then that’s selfishness. So, let’s not strive for greatness. Instead let’s use our greatness already placed in us, to make this world a better place and change other people’s lives.