Are you entertained or fufilled?...

Are you entertained or fulfilled?

Think about it, in your life are you entertained or fulfilled? I believe fulfillment is the feeling of truly contributing to the greater good and knowing that your life has a purpose and that you are giving.

A lot of people are just entertained with life (if they are even that lucky). Where they are getting as much as they can out of it (so they think) but in the end, when all is said and done their is a shallow feeling of emptiness.

Recently, a good friend of mine Emily Resnick, reached out to me for support on a HUGE goal she has (her deadline is January, *note the importance of deadlines to make goals real). And it showed me a perfect example of fulfillment. She is doing something that most people talk about doing but don't actually ever do in their lives. Run a marathon (how awesome is that!).

And she is not only doing it to personally feel good, she is doing it help out a much, much needed cause. She is running to help fund raise for Leukemia and Lymphoma, blood cancers that are the #1 disease killer of children and the leading fatal malignant disease of men and women under the age of 35.

But here's what struck me about what she is doing. She messaged me and said this "I'm excited about being a part of something bigger than myself." Wow, that really is the secret to fulfillment. It's about contribution in life. It's so easy for us to make excuse after excuse about why we can't give and why we can't contribute, and I find that if you act that way when you have little, you will act that way when you have a lot. Contribution of (time or money) is crucial to living a life of purpose and fufillment.

I really believe in this. I even dedicated a major portion of my best selling book, Your Starting Point For Student Success to this idea as a major tenant of the 4th Pillar to Success.


I recently have been feeling a little less than fufilled in my life (yes we all get there) so I donated my time and services to speak and teach hiphop to a local community center. And I can tell you that even though the students said they got so much out of it, I was the one that really benefited from the experience.

So when when Emily reached out to me for her goal, I knew this was a great opportunity to donate some of my funds as well. (and I've donated in the past to this great cause, my friend Annie is running for this too).

I know that Emily is looking forward to the road she has ahead of her, both literally and figuratively. And I applaud her efforts and the efforts of all who want to make the world better.

So what have you done to feel truly fulfilled lately? Or better yet what EXCUSE have you rationalized to yourself for why you can't donate your time or money for something bigger than you? **By the way when you break down the word "rationalize" it's root words are "ration-lies", think about it.**

I'd like to challenge you to give back in some form or another this week. Whether it be through your time or financial resources. I'd highly recommend supporting Emily with her journey. You can go to
http://pages.teamintraining.org/li/wdw10/eresnick to support. If you don't have the time because of your schedule, in less than 3 mins you can donate what ever you can to help Emily get to the starting line and finish off Leukemia and Lymphoma!

So you have two choices, if you've read this far, you can sit on your butt and do nothing which if this is how you feel about life, then you should go play in traffic. I know that might sound harsh but it's true. If you aren't committed to doing something, anything, doesn't matter what it is, to take action to better this world, you are just sucking up resources and wasting valuable space on this earth.

Or you can make the decision to take action and do something. Donate to give back at a local soup kitchen, play with your little cousin, niece or nephew let them feel loved. Support someone like Emily with a small donation to help end a seriously problem we are facing. It doesn't matter what it is. Just do something. Contribution is the secret to fulfillment in life.