I Want to be Like . . . Mark

[Work – II]

Mark Zuckerberg, of course.

Or Elon Musk.

Or whoever created that app on that device in your pocket that makes photo albums of your pictures or puts fake glasses and sparkles on your screen shots.

We want to be the guy or gal that does little, makes a lot, and then talks about changing the world. (Not that Mark or Elon or whoever doesn’t work a lot, but the portrayal of them is that their jobs are, quite literally, getting their picture taken and getting interviewed . . . and talking about changing the world.)

Mark will not change the world. I mean, he’s changed the way we interact, stare at our phones, and make (and break-up with) friends. But those aren’t his philanthropic interests. Digging wells, feeding hungry people, solving the malaria problem, reconciliation in conflicts zones: these are what he and others mean when they talk about “changing the world”.

Mark won’t do that. He can’t.

Don’t be like Mark. Don’t try. That’s not your gig. You would hate it.

The most revolutionary, world-changing thing you can do today is take that tremendous burden you have on your heart, hold it in one hand, and take your day-to-day life in your other hand. Now, with both of your hands full, hold them up next to each other, and gently ask, “Where do these intersect?”

It might mean volunteering down the street. It might mean holding your daughter for twenty more minutes and whispering in her ear that she is valuable. It also might mean changing your career or writing a book or donating 100k to your neighbor’s urban mission.

Mark can’t do that with your life.
You can’t do that with his.

Only you have the ability to find where your convictions and your life intersect and braid together.