When you’re struggling, do you ever find that your thoughts are mired knee-deep in yourself? Put differently, have you ever noticed that self-centeredness and self-interest are the quickest paths to hold yourself back on the journey to significance?

On the other side of the coin, if you truly want to make an impact and lead a life of significance, then you need to go beyond yourself, which involves…

  • Seeing beyond yourself. As Albert Einstein famously said, “A person starts to live when he can live outside himself.” According to John C. Maxwell, people who fail to get beyond themselves are usually selfish or insecure or both. The world doesn’t owe you a living, and you are not indispensable.
  • Growing beyond yourself. Gandhi put it best when he said, “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.” Growing beyond yourself starts with discovering your purpose, clarifying your priorities and getting passionate about life. The fastest way to get better is to hand out with better people.
  • Giving beyond yourself. “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is,” according to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “’what are we doing for others?’” Life really takes off when we invest ourselves and our resources in others.
  • Gathering beyond yourself. If you want to surround yourself with great people, you need to work at becoming a great person. And since we attract the people most like ourselves, take an honest inventory of the people surrounding you right now.

According to John Maxwell, here are 6 ways to get beyond yourself:

  • Quit taking yourself so seriously.
  • Quit thinking that the world owes you a living.
  • Quit believing you are indispensable.
  • Start seeing through other people’s eyes.
  • Start placing value on others.
  • Start understanding your purpose on earth

Simply put, if you really want to make an impact and move forward on your journey to significance, you have to go beyond yourself; you have to step outside yourself.

And if you are struggling, stop feeling sorry for yourself and go out and help someone. Add value to the world. Turn your moping into mentoring and help someone climb the ladder in your world. The best thing you can do for yourself is to make everyone around you better.

We believe in you, and we believe that you are called to set the bar high, taking it into the world around you. In spite of all the happy selfies people post on social media, there are hurting people out there—much closer than you might imagine.