The Greatness Guide: One of the World's Most Successful Coaches Shares His Secrets for Personal and Business Mastery (18 page)
Authors: Robin Sharma
I feel incredibly blessed. Why? Because I get to spend my life in service. So thank you. I’m more grateful to you than you’ll ever know. I promise to keep writing and speaking, if you’ll keep reading.
How to Live Forever
To live on in the minds and hearts of the generations who will follow you is to cheat death. To make such a difference through the way you lead and show up is to find immortality. To have a lasting impact on human lives—by being a great champion at work or a great parent at home or a great leader in your community—is to live forever.
To live on in the minds and hearts of the generations who will follow you
is to cheat death.
“Impact” is one of my favorite words these days. So is “legacy.” Greatness comes by beginning something that doesn’t end with you. So stop worrying about death. Care more about life. What you will create today. What contribution you will make today. What person you will celebrate today. What fear you will beat today. What act of kindness you will offer today. What social ill you will remedy today. What wrong you will right
today. I love these words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu: “There is no situation that is not transformable. There is no person who is hopeless. There is no set of circumstances that cannot be turned about by human beings and their natural capacity for love of the deepest sort.”
To paraphrase Mel Gibson’s character in
Braveheart
(one of my all-time favorite movies): “Every one of us will die. But so few of us really live.” Perfect.
Lay Claim to Greatness
Blame or claim—that’s the choice each of us has to make each day. Blame what’s not working or claim the gift in the seemingly negative situation. The world needs more heroes. And heroes spend their days hunting for the best. They see the best amidst adversity. They see the best in others. They dig for the best in themselves. They claim their greatness. And in doing so, they get their best lives.
It’s never too late
to become the person you have always
dreamed of being.
An extraordinary life is not something only available for the chosen few—people with perfect teeth and royal pedigrees. You and I are destined for greatness. We are meant to live spectacular lives. That’s hardwired into our DNA. But we need to do our part to make it all happen. Choice by choice. Step by step.
Small gains eventually yield giant results. Life truly does want us to win. We only need to do our part.
So lay claim to your greatness. Drive a stake into the ground to mark your place under the sun. Stop being a prisoner of your past and become the architect of your future. And remember, it’s never too late to become the person you have always dreamed of being.
ALSO BY ROBIN SHARMAMegaLiving
The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
Leadership Wisdom from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
Who Will Cry When You Die?
Family Wisdom from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
The Saint, the Surfer and the CEO
Discover Your Destiny with the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
The Greatness Guide, Book 2
“Life is pure adventure and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art.”
Maya Angelou
“I used to think that one day I’d be able to resolve the different drives I have in different directions, the tensions between the different people I am. Now I realize that is who I am. I do feel I’m getting closer to the song in my head. I wasn’t looking for grace. But luckily grace was looking for me. “
Bono, lead singer of U2, as quoted in
Rolling Stone
ROBIN SHARMA
LL.B., LL.M., is one of the world’s top experts on leadership and personal development, having helped millions of people lead without a title and play at their best. He is the author of eight major international bestsellers, including The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari (published in 55 languages) and Who Will Cry When You Die?, and was ranked the #2 leadership thinker in the world in an independent survey by leadergurus.net. Robin is the founder of Sharma Leadership International Inc., a training firm with clients such as FedEx, GE, IBM, Microsoft, Nike and Yale University. His website, robinsharma.com, offers his blog, video coaching and podcasts to help you succeed at work and in life.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
THE GREATNESS GUIDE
“Robin Sharma has the rare
gift of writing books that are truly
life-changing.”
Richard Carlson, Ph.D.,
author of the #1
New York Times
bestseller
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
“A keen observer of life and
business, Sharma frames his
wisdom in a friendly, accessible way
that will appeal to readers at every
level of their careers.”
Publishers
Weekly
“He’s taken his message around
the world.”
CNN
The Greatness Guide
© 2006 by Robin S. Sharma.
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EPub Edition © JANUARY 2011 ISBN: 978-1-554-68596-7
Published by
HarperCollinsPublishersLtd
Originally published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd in a hardcover edition: 2006. This trade paperback edition: 2009.
www.harpercollins.ca
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication information is available
ISBN 978-1-55468-436-6
STJ 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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