JSSUMMERS™ Entertainment®: Make Your Mark

September 27 —October 3

Last month I visited Africa, and found many spiritual lessons in just observing the landscape and wildlife. I noticed how obvious a mark a pack of elephants leave in their wake. You KNOW when an elephant has been around. You see its droppings. You stand in its footprints. You reel in the trees and bushes knocked down in its path.

Conversely, baboons leave no trace of their presence. Or at least none perceptible with the five senses. They tread lightly. They are not heavy-handed in their impact on the forest.

So my question to you this week is:

Are you an elephant or a baboon?

In other words, if you were to be plucked out of your life today, whether by alien abduction or otherwise, how big is the hole created by your absence? How much does it take to replace you? What is the legacy you leave behind?

On a simple level, you can apply this to business. Let's say 3 guys are partners and one decides to move to another city. If the business suffers in his absence, it shows how much he added to the company.

And I don't mean who is there to replace you. In the big picture, there's always someone to fill our roles — in work, at home, with friends. Rav Brandwein replaced Rav Ashlag after his passing. King Solomon took the throne after King David.

I don't ask this question to depress you or create stress. I use this question on myself, like a barometer. As I grow myself, increase the size of my vessel — as the kabbalists say, I take more. I need more. More knowledge, more energy, more accomplishment. I'm not satisfied with what I did before. But to balance that growth, I also need to make sure that I give more. As I expand my potential, I must also expand my value — in the world.

This question should either make you appreciate what you are doing, or make you realize you're not doing enough. It should then inspire you to consider how you can contribute more to the various aspects of your life.

Its not about how much money I make or my bottom line. We need to feel our value, and if we don't feel its enough, that needs to motivate us to work.

Am I more valuable to this earth this year than last year?

If last year I was ME version 2.0, this year I want to be ME version 3.0. If we are not focusing on giving more, chances are we are taking.

Sometimes we have to ask the tough questions. But in asking them, we arrive at destinations that are sweeter, more fulfilling and more impactful.

Ask away!

All the best,

Yehuda

72 Name of the Week

My eyes and heart remain focused on the end goal at all times. I awaken the persistence and passion to never—and that means never—ever settle for less!