My son is 15 months old and I asked myself what I would tell him when he is growing up to be a man. It will probably be a letter of hope, encouragement and resilience. I hope that when he grows up, he will keep these words into his heart. I do this to share about the need to influence people towards greatness.

Isaac Trying To Climb Up Daddy's Leg

Do read my personal letter to him:

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25 Aug 2010

Dear Isaac,

I just want you to know that you are really the apple of my eye. Do you know that every time I look at you, feelings of fondness and love for you will flow out from me? Whenever you lay on your bed and sleep, I will endeavour to steal a glance and watch you slowly drift into sleep. I will walk up next to you, crawl onto the mattress and give a kiss to tell you that you are a beautiful gift that God has blessed mommy and me.

I pray that you will be a man of character, standing strong in a world where values are constantly shifting and eroding. I pray that I too will be such a man that can lead and teach you to do what is right. Sometimes the weaknesses of my soul and flesh will betray me. Even my words may not match up to my actions, but I hope that you will forgive my fallen nature and know that I am a father who is giving his best to teach you life lessons within my capabilities. Focus on building integrity and acting on good intend rather than the outward appearance of looks and impression.

If you handle your inner world in a correct manner, your outer world will be great as well.  Your inner beauty will radiate outwards when you hold fast to the values you are taught. Remember that situations do not make a man, but they merely reveal the size of character in a man.

The world awaits you with much excitement and snares. I am excited for you on how you will handle this journey and yet at the same time concerned for the snares of unpleasantness it can hurl at you.

Whenever life throws you disappointments, failures and heartaches, remember that everything has a season. When you are suffering in coldest winter, remember that spring is coming. When darkness is at its fullness, remember that dawn will break forth soon.

Your perspective and resilience in handling what it can throw at you will set you apart from the rest. Never give up on dark situations, but instead ask how you rise above it. When you keep asking the right questions, I believe that you will find the right answers. Emotional resilience is important in an uncertain world where everything happens so fast. Hold on to God and allow Him to guide you through.

Isaac, I also pray that you will grow in wisdom in handling situations around you. I also know that wisdom comes from making wrong choices. Therefore be courageous in making mistakes because there is always a gem of wisdom that we must learn from every one of them. Mistakes are also a gentle way of reminding us that we are still human and not as invincible as we think we are.

Let love for mankind and God guide your every action. Let it also be the guiding principle of your decision making. People around you may not respond or reciprocate in the same manner, but do it anyway. Love is an intelligent willingness to do what is the best for the other person. It is not a feeling, but an action. Do not let others influence you that love is a feeling and is only there while it lasts. There will be many times you will not feel like loving, especially when you are hurt by others, misunderstood or even hated, but do it anyway. Love need not be done in an extraordinary manner, but just you being faithful in loving people around you, is already extraordinary.

Isaac, remember that your mommy and I will always love you. We want you to know that you are precious and that having a resilient character is important. Be the man you are supposed to be and be a person after God’s heart.

With the sweetest love,

Daddy.

P.S.: I still look forward to watching you fall asleep.

Isaac sleeping on his favourite boaster

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Most people are good in what they do, but few seldom achieve greatness. Most are content with just being good, however, they feel that greatness is something that is achieved with a lot more hard work, time and energy. However, let me share with you something that might just shock you!

1. Greatness requires just a little more from you

In the Olympics, any 100 meter race is over by just a couple of seconds. The difference between the first and the second place is just a matter of split seconds! However, the prize money between the first and second (or even third) usually differs by a few times! Just a little bit more in the final push towards the end line, and the person is the first place. Since we are already putting in so much effort to be good, why not take a little more to make it great? It is no harder to build a good company than to be build something great and lasting.

An interesting note: No one remembers 2nd place in a race, but everyone remembers only the first!

2. Greatness sometimes requires less suffering and work

In the book Good to Great, Jim Collins comments that some of the great companies face less suffering and perhaps less work. This is because Great companies are able to realise that much of what they are doing is a waste of energy and have the ability to focus on objectives that will only drive the company towards a singular goal. Most other companies tend to focus on a lot of areas and diversifying their time and efforts, thus resulting in a lot of extra work with not much result.

Collins adds, “I am not saying that going from good to great is easy… but I am asserting that those who strive to turn good into great find the process no more painful or exhausting than those who settle for just letting things wallow along in mind-numbing mediocrity. Yes, turning good into great requires energy, but building the momentum adds more energy back in to the pool than it takes out.”

3. Greatness is about asking the right question

If we ever ask questions like “Why should I need to be great? Isn’t success enough?” My question to you would be whether you are in the right kind of work. If you are engaged in something that you really love and are passionate about, that question becomes irrelevant. This is because when we are in the flow of doing what we really enjoy and like, we will want to make it greater and better. We will be asking better questions like, “How can I add more value to my clients/organisation in what I am doing?”

Conclusion

Make a conscious decision to be Great in what we do. Since we are already striving to be good, let’s strive to be Great!

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