“Example is leadership.” Albert Schweitzer
Heroes, models, and mentors can help you become excellent. They have already arrived there and can show you the path. In a commencement speech Nido gave recently at a U.S university, he made three important points:
(1) Who you spend time with is who you become.
(2) What you choose is what you get.
(3) How you succeed is where you end up.
To be great you must first walk with great people. If you want to fly with the eagles you have to stop scratching with the turkeys. It’s the choices you make, not the circumstances you find yourself in, that define the person you become. The type of success that you pursue in life will determine the kind of destination and legacy you will enjoy.
Heroes are people to look up to. Models are people you learn from. Mentors are those who hold your hand while you walk to success, showing you the pitfalls so that you can avoid them. Find heroes who can guide you to Life Balance and success.
Akber Ladha was a mystic whom I really admired. He was a very wise man who gave freely of his wisdom and insights. Akber was the one who ignited the spark in me to write my two books, The Corporate Sufi and The One-Minute Sufi. Akber was not alive to see the birth of these books, but he has certainly left a legacy through the inspiration he gave to me.
Albert Einstein said, “Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others; it is the only means.”
The inspiration we impart to others can go a long way. Shams Tabriz, a wandering mystic of the 13th century, inspired Rumi. Shams wrote no books. Rumi ended up writing 26,000 couplets and became the Shakespeare of the Persian world. Rumi gave Shams credit for all his works.
Is serving always easy? No. There are times when being a volunteer can be difficult. Your family might be upset with you for spending too much time away from home and not shouldering your share of the domestic load. You may end up in a place where people get rude, or do not appreciate your efforts. A volunteer’s life is not always rosy. Sometimes things backfire. Having said this, no matter what price you pay, when you give wholeheartedly and with good intentions, you set power in motion – the ripple effect. And if nothing else, there is an internal instant satisfaction you feel deep within you, which is hard to measure or buy with money or physical possessions. In that regard, it is priceless. So rise above the hindrances that come your way. Of course, you need to balance your life with your family commitments, or involve your family in your service.
Excellence is not an innate skill. It is an acquired skill that comes from nurturing and mentoring. Your parents, teachers, peers, and mentors, as well as the environment, all play important roles in your achieving this skill. The good news is that it is never too late to achieve excellence, as long as you are committed enough to exercise the discipline and action required. Start today. Take baby steps, and before you know it, you’ll be on your way toward excellence.
As Benjamin Franklin urged, “Up Sluggard, and waste not Life; in the grave will be sleeping enough.”
So who’s your role model and why?
(Adapted from the book, ‘Life Balance, The Sufi Way’ by Azim Jamal & Nido Quebin)