When I was around 14 or 15 years old there was this rather comical craze in my high school; printed cartoon socks. The craze was partly because these socks were brand new on the market (in South Africa around 1995) and partly since they were against school rules to wear them (we had a formal ‘British colonial style’ school uniform). I had only two pairs.
Yes, I know, so utterly rebellious of me.
One was an extra-long pair with Bugs Bunny printed on them – ears at maximum pointiness with his nose cleverly positioned right on the ankle bone. The other pair featured Hagar the Horrible – sitting atop a snow-covered mountain peak.
‘What in the world do cartoon socks have to do with success?”, you may be wondering! Well, for me… surprisingly a lot. Maybe I can get them to mean a little more to you by the end of this read.
The pair of socks in question were the Hagar the Horrible pair. Printed on each side (the area around the ankles) had Hagar sitting atop an icy mountain peak with speech bubbles above. The following two statements were oriented on either side: “It’s lonely on the top…” and “also very uncomfortable!”
I had to take some creative license with the cartoon strip above. I recreated my own version of the comic seeing as I could not find a copy of the original strip to link to.
This image of a lonely Hagar sitting atop a maintain had stuck with me throughout high school and into my 20's. One of the reasons being that during those years my father would regularly ask me what success meant to me. This was success as a general idea for my life and not specifically for one thing such as school or a career. Every time I was asked this I always had this feeling that 'loneliness' would always be associated with success. The image of being on top or being successful meant being alone on top and this was an uncomfortable concept to process.
I think part of the issue I had with thinking of success was rooted in my desire to not be merely successful in life, but to be significant. I had decided at a young age that I wanted to be significant, that my life and how I lived it, would be of significant value to those people around me. Success seemed to always be a selfish goal, a pursuit which did not guarantee happiness.
This drive to want to be significant instead of simply successful, this yearning to have a meaningful life, has been one of the single most important factors in the decisions I make for my life.
Here are a few examples of such decisions I have made.
Towards the middle of my final year of high school I started to put thought into what I would do directly after high school. I had good enough grades to pursue my dream to be an aeronautical engineer but I also knew that entrepreneurship was the most likely path I would follow. This left me with interesting options regarding studies and the years directly after school.
However, as the year started to come to an end, I decided that I wanted to first devote my time and energy (while I could) towards my other passion; music. I was accepted into a preforming arts youth ministry program that would have resulted in touring with a band and producing an album. It would have done wonders for my musical ‘career’ and most definitely would have given my guitar/bass/piano playing the solid boost it needed.
But that was not my only option.
I was also accepted into a youth ministry program that was not only focused on the arts, but rather a more wholistic approach to working with youth and in the youth ministry environment. There would be no national touring or album cut, but instead community service work and a handful of outreaches.
In the end, my desire to be significant and not only successful lead me to take the second option. As a result, I got to work with youth for the next ten years of my life both at a local community level as well as at a national level being involved with various ministries and forums and charities.
Today, I can look back and still see the significant impact that that one decision I made at the age of 18 has. I look at various organizations and ministries I had the privilege to join and start, the incredible people that I got to lead and mentor during that time and the good that came from it all, and I know that it was the right decision.
This next example is an interesting one for some people because it seems (or rather, at the time seemed) juvenile to people who are not in the ‘know’. I am a gamer! I have been since the Atari 2600 and will be a gamer even once I have retire. I love, not only the games themselves (350+ game titles testify to that) but I love also the technology (hardware and software) behind video games, the creativity and people behind developing them, the video game culture and the science and psychology of games and play.
In my early 20’s, right when PC games started becoming popular as a competitive ‘sport’ (that’s usually the point where I would get the eye-roll from people) I started getting more ‘seriously’ into games. I bought the best gear I could, started collecting games and spend many hours each day honing my skills (more eye-rolls usually accompany that statement) and started playing against other players online. I thought I was fairly good and could possibly pursue gaming more seriously at that point
Side note: It was around this time that Johnathan Wendal aka Fatal1ty was the first professional gamer to be recognized by the mainstream media and during this time that tournament prize money was hitting the U$100 000 mark
So, what did I do?
I started a company that hosted local gaming tournaments, a website that promoted video games and esports. These along with various other opportunities and connections eventually went on to me becoming the founding president or the national esports association. This association let local gamers receive their national colors and represent their country on the international stage and still continues to do so.
And during all that time (a period of around 5 years) I hardly played any video games. This was because I intentionally wanted to create a platform for other gamers to be successful at their gaming and I knew that it required my time, effort and money. I had decided that the most significant way I could contribute towards the gaming community would be by using my skills and experience (both in gaming and business) to see others excel at what they were passionate about.
Once again, I can look back and see how local gamers today are still (to some degree) benefiting from the decisions I had made back then.
In much the same way, my decision to be an active board member on various association and charity boards over the last 10 years, has all stemmed from that burning desire to be significant in this life and not merely successful.
And all this, sparked simply by a pair of socks that I wore back in high school.
One of my favorite quotes is by Nelson Henderson:
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”
This single sentence inspires me, almost daily, to make decisions that will have significance to the people around me. This is what success means to me.
I hope this simple message for a pair of cartoon sock inspires you, even just a little, to look at your life and the decisions you make and to live a life of significance… and not just a life of success.
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