Making Your Mark
Strategic Thinking about Lasting Significance
Sir Ernest
Shackleton (1874-1922) was a British explorer who was one
of the leading figures of the Heroic Age of Antarctic
Exploration. In planning one expedition, he ran an ad in a
London newspaper seeking those who might join him on that
great voyage. The ad read:
“Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages. Bitter cold.
Long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful.
Honor and recognition in event of success.”
He received over 5,000 responses.
Throughout history, there have been those who, like
Shackleton and his men, feel that ships are safe in
harbors, but that's not what ships are built for. For these
people, the prospect of doing something significant has a
very strong appeal, and when you look at the way they spend
their time and money, and their tolerance for risk, that
priority is in plain view.
As a class, no group understands and appreciates the
prospect of significance more than those who have entered
into the rest of faith. Now marching to a different
drummer, their lives are transformed and transforming in
the most profound and sublime way, and their universal and
unwavering testimony is that the costs they have borne are
a pittance compared to the life they have reaped.
In 1985, Sandy began an investigation into significance,
and later that year, he started speaking on the prospect
and process of living a life that God calls
"significant."
Making Your Mark resonated
with serious-minded people, word spread, and over the last
thirty-plus years, reports from around the world have
described the lectures as an inspired and instructive
perspective on the subject.
It is from that lecture series that the idea for a book by
the same title emerged. It is short – about fifty pages –
and it describes the
views and values of those who have made a mark that will
last for eternity. The chapter titles include:
- The Definition of a Significant Life
- The Force of a Significant Life
- The Foundation of a Significant Life
- The Test of a Significant Life
- The Entrance to a Significant Life
