Transformation. It’s not what you say. It’s not even what you do.

It’s how you leave them feeling when it’s all over.

We, as self-consciously battered Americans, spend billions of dollars every year on therapy, counseling, mentors, training, self-help books, and events to try to figure out what to do to reach our full potential.

We have “potions” made with caffeine, taurine, and guarana to keep us alert longer and and working harder. We have gyms, restaurants, and bars closer to work so we can “live life” closer to where we are productive.

We are all about doing…. and seem to lack the power of being.

Real “change the world” power comes from transformation rather than transaction…

It’s not what you did then or do now or plan on doing later. It’s who you are!

You can’t stand out when you look like everyone else.

You can’t inspire and challenge others when you are just as fearful as them to stand out and be noticed. To put yourself in a position where people disagree with you. To be criticized, abused, and disbelieved.

To make a difference, you first must be different…

Last Friday I spent the day being inspired at TEDx Greenville. If you have never had the chance to go to a TED event, then you are truly missing out on an amazing opportunity to be wowed.

For 24 years, Joannie had trained to be in this position.  She entered the Olympics, with 12 gold medals in the last 12 consecutive Canadian National Championships.  Along the way she had picked up international medals in China, the Grand Prix, and Russia — competing in 39 different competitions.  She practiced until she turned her 17th place showing at the World Championships into 2nd place just five years later– officially becoming the vice-World Champion.  And now the Olympics.

The stage was set.  Expectations ran high.  Her practices were flawless.

Two days before she was scheduled to perform, just as she was waking up to begin her final practice, she was startled by a surprise visit from her father, Norman.  Her mother, Therese, had just died from a massive heart attack.  The news was shocking and devastating.  Everything she had ever worked for — the practice, the pain, the passion — it all seems to leave her soul as the tears flowed from her eyes.  What deep sorrow.  How could she continue?

Fast forward to Tuesday.  As Joannie takes the ice, the crowd is quiet.  This is their home town girl.  Not sure whether to cry with her or cheer her on to victory, they wait.  And Joannie puts on the performance of a lifetime.

There is no shortcut to success.

Unlike every episode with Indiana Jones, there is no Holy Grail of aspirational whymsy whereby you plot a few strategic moves and end up with all the pieces on the board.

Success is a mindset.  Not a point in time…

Everything we ever been told about success usually revolves around a single point in time.

When we set a record, crash through the ribbon at the finish line, win the trophy, land the biggest customer in the history of our business…  It’s all about our “spot emotional index”.

Around key dates like graduation, end of the quarter, and bonus time, we feel successful IF there is a physical memento to indicate that we were successful.  Without the trophy it can be hard for us to gauge “success”…

That’s why I go back to the idea that success is less a date on the calendar and more of a philosophy.

It’s important that you adopt a successful mindset rather than aim for public indicators of success.

Is what you doing right now something the world can’t live without? Are you the difference between success and failure? Are you truly indispensable?

“So, Seth, do you consider yourself indispensable?”

That’s what I wanted to say. But I ran out of time.

The reality is that the thinking of a guy like Seth is quite indispensable. You can’t really live without it. You may survive. You might be the last of your friends around at 87. But what you did probably won’t have really mattered…