GIVING YOURSELF AWAY (THE JOURNEY TOWARDS SIGNIFICANCE)

By Marietta Pangan

Pursuing significance – what is it? How is it being done? The truth is, I have no perfect formula for it. “What I know for sure is” (borrowing Oprah’s line), it is a journey (may take a lifetime), mastered with life experiences, enriched by lessons learned (both easy and difficult), honed through time and guided by greater power than self.

The state of being at peace, with joy within while a person is on the lowest stage of life. It far exceeds inequities that are present and help rebuilds greater faith, richer talents, abilities, and capabilities.

Success is usually the stepping stone to significance. But why does a person’s success doesn’t equate or enough for a person to become significant?

There is definitely no DIY manuals to guide the journey. It can be compared to the sensation of being a Fish out of Water. If you are lucky, losing what is treasured most will be part of it. A lot to digest for sure, that is why it is not time-bound, rather of a journey.

In the hope to illuminate my points and establish credibility to what I say, may I present them using lifelong experiences of my own.

5 Components towards Significance.

Time: Use time wisely to motivate, inspire, educate and inform others. Growing up, I have two imperative tall orders engraved in my head, which I thought I delivered, therefore, if measured by tangible achievements can be called a success. First, Ama’s (Father) famous line “Tulog PA kayo naghahanapbuhay na kami, Tulog NA kayo naghahanap buhay pa rin kami”. (We were already finding a living before the cock crows and still doing so past your bedtime). Ina (Mother) on the other hand, insists in the belief of “Naging maswerte kami sa negosyo mula ng isinilang kita.” ( You have been the lucky charm of our growing our business since the time you were born!). The time in my life when it was truly more valuable was when I utilized it to impart and share with others. I will use my sleepless nights writing articles, news and stories to inform. I developed sleep disorder as side effects of medications to reduce severe lower abdominal and nerve end pains. These sleepless and painful nights are consciously diverted into productive hours instead of counting sheep or feeling sorry for myself. So knowledge is no longer stagnant as information has been shared in print, online or in social media. Ideas, insights, and points of view, now serve as references to benefit end users. Time has become a valued commodity. Time multiplies as it transcends and used to educate more for others.

Talent: Mentoring, teaching skills through training, brainstorming of ideas with others to create a project, helping out friends with requests, random unprompted acts of kindness to strangers, collaborating with other groups to deliver services, and providing emotional support while you are going through similar situation. After a couple of years, while I was starting to recover and slowly going back to a workforce, another debilitating condition struck. I saw right before my very eyes that others are living my life. There was even a point when what I have learned from school and books are hardly applicable to my situation. Talking about a hurdle got in the way, then a roadblock and finally, a road closed. I should have enough excuses for becoming absolutely miserable. I even have plenty of reasons to point my fingers as to why life is tough. The seeds planted towards significance became the only saving grace. I am fully aware of my mental abilities, emotional capabilities, they have more to offer than my current situation. So what I know, I further shared. The pursuit of significance helped me build the confidence looking beyond the current situation while bearing in mind that trials are minuscule compared to the life battles others face compared to thine self. So talents shared with others multiplied if decided not keeping to self.

Influence: Learn to navigate all forms of communication to continue to reach and help others. I have arrived at a situation that even a simple task of literally scratching an itchy nose is not a possibility. Then the call for significance gets louder. The day I left my own pity party, I reached out to start collaborative projects and activities online. I also trained myself to express my appreciation to a person or groups through shout outs. Clicking buttons for likes, reactions, and emojis helped me show the person I am in conformity. Posting positive messages versus my emotional status help brighten someone’s day. Forwarding new ideas, researches via email or messenger helped accomplish more activities. As a result, I communicated to thousands of people locally and globally. The web became my new world. The laptop became my legs to attend meetings. Phone calls are now being used more to listen to unspoken words and get a clearer point of views or opinions. These engines broadened my way of communication and helped bridge the lack of physical strength to help reach out more people. I may sound like a true millennial but in real essence, I am an old school. Prior to where I am now, I have achieved successes according to my own gauge at a very young age: academic, professions, careers. I have traveled a dozen places, fed my passion, used some recreations and enjoyed a lot relaxation. But they were cut short. The journey towards the significance kept me from throwing more pity parties for myself. My communication style evolved and become unconventional. I will give credit to technology which allows me to get closer to it with the click of a button. Therefore I shouldn’t be in the way.

Way of Life: The value of a person’s life is determined by how he affects others and the impact he leaves on the world. – Author Unknown. Being one of the self-proclaimed movers and shakers of the community for almost a decade now, sharing my time, talent and treasure without any financial gain may be emotionally draining and can be really exhausting at times. I was frequently asked these questions: Where and how do I find plenty of ideas and inspirations on mostly anything while influencing others? How do I keep my sanity intact? Where do I find the reasons to smile despite my physical conditions? How do I manage to look like life is grand? Where do I get the ability to share what I’ve got when there’s hardly anything left for me? My response often is the life of significance provide me a vivid blueprint to manage it. The life and fate that tested my capacity physically, emotionally and of course spiritually, is the same tool I used, but living more by faith, on shifted focus and adding value more for others than the classic me, myself and I first. Don’t get me wrong, I have had my fair share of giving and sharing then, however, only when almost everything is taken away from me except for my life, that the purpose of gaining significance blossomed.

Treasure: Whether you think you can or can’t, you are right. -Henry Ford. I have done business as early as 7 years old (selling ice drop to the entire village for a 1 cent commission) to a most improved unit in sales and production of a direct selling business in 2009, with two cars and almost a hundred team members in my wagon, jumping over hundreds of leaders of my seniors in 2 countries (USA/Canada). Following step-by-step guide toward success. Acting on my goals, getting ahead of my calendar of activities to accomplish tasks and get where I want to be. I have done them well with flying colors. I thought when you know enough, they were sufficient to cushion a downfall of a career or misfortune. They were definitely blinding. After being diagnosed with some lifelong debilitating conditions, the marriage of nine years broke down, followed by 3 multiple vehicular accidents, all in the same year, life seemed helpless from the outside. The inability to work resulted in financial scarcity, burdened emotionally, crippled physically, besides living alone in a foreign land. It was again the pursuit of a valued life and significance and strength in spirit helped me realize a shift in career and goals. It was never easy to build another business, although, being in business runs in my blood, as father and mother are epitomes of being their own bosses since I was born. Presently, we are operating mostly on collaborative efforts and shared ideas. Helping others expand their horizons first and then we will get compensated. The not so business way of running a business thrives on assisting others first to build their own groups, organizations, and associations before reaping what we sow. It also provides a platform for others to shine. Staying out of the equation so others may achieve successes beside ourselves. Not so conventional yet it achieves the main purpose of providing value to others first. It may have hardly achieve massive financial gains but plenty of priceless rewards combined with pure joy.

In conclusion, the decision of giving time, talent, influence, a way of life and treasure is a work in progress within myself. Others may conform while others raise brows. According to Mother Theresa, this is between me and My Creator, and I am at peace with it. Even Anne Frank once said “I don’t want to have lived in vain like most people. I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I’ve never met. I want to go on living even after my death.” This to me that equates to a life of significance.

About the Author:

Operates Kaizen C.R.E.W. (Consultant/ Coaching. Resources/Events/Workshops) since 2014. She has more than 25 years of extensive experiences combined in Sales/Customer Service, Menu Development/Standardization, Marketing, Food Service Supervision & Management, Research, Planning/Consultant/Advisor/Facilitator for diverse communities and Public Health. A degree in Nutrition and Dietetics (Philippines), Diploma in Food and Nutrition Management and Technology (Canada) and few courses in Master in Food and Nutrition (Philippines). A Certificate in Computer Applications and a Certified Travel Agent. She is also one of the Publishers for Diaryo Filipino Newspaper, Magazine Columnist/ Writer, Social Media Blogger, Administrator and Channel host. Additionally, a Marketing and Promotions savvy. An award winning Independent Sales Director /Mentor/ Leader/ Consultant (Mary Kay Cosmetics until 2009) where she earned various awards in leadership, mentoring, team building, production and sales in Canada and USA. Lastly, Marietta is a huge Advocate of Pay it Forward System and Be Significant Movement. A Community Collaborator, Organizer and Servant/ Leader since 1998.