6 by 9, 42, meaning is everywhere

I was chatting with Steve today about the moments in our lives when we have really distinguished ourselves. The moments when we got breaks, you could say. Steve said “when he got lucky” until we looked a bit closer.

The thing that occurred to me, was that when we both talked about something great that had happened to us, it was mostly as a result of our own hard work. Steve has written 8 books, and is writing number 9. He said he got asked he first got asked to write a couple of chapters for a book because he was answering user questions on a Flash forum. His own efforts enamoured him to his publisher.

Myself, I was looking back at when I worked on Plone. Plone is a free open source content management system. By giving up my time to work on open source software, I ended up doing a web site for NASA as well as becoming an invited expert to the W3C.

More than just our own hard work, what I also see commonly in both Steve and my turning points was our desire to do something for others. Steve was helping other people with their problems, and I was providing services to the community, and improving the lives of people with disabilities on the web.

I really honestly genuinely believe the altruism was a key part of our success. In working for others we did more than we would do for ourselves. We shone brighter than we felt we could shine brighter because we had the need.

So my challenge to you, dear reader, find something that you can do. Find something that will take your heart and soul and let you shine for others, but therein also for yourself.

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