Tom Rath - Lifes Great Question: Discover How You Contribute To The World

A s I held a plate of veggies in one hand and an iced tea in the other, a distant cousin cornered me. I recognized her face and knew she was a generation older, but struggled to recall her name.

Great to see you and your family here, Tom! She leaned in closer, knowing my wife and daughter were a few feet away, and added, To tell you the truth, most of us didnt expect you to live this long. I wasnt quite sure how to reply.

I was already well out of my comfort zone at this family reunion, held in a hollow gymnasium near my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. But here I was. And while my cousin may not have made the most sensitive comment, it was honest.

When I was 16 years old, doctors told me I had a rare and catastrophic genetic mutation, one that would lead to cancers in multiple organs. Within a year, I had lost all sight in one eye to large tumors. The doctors said I would almost certainly face cancer in several other areas, from my kidneys to my spine. None of them seemed to know how long I might live, battling cancer on multiple fronts.

Eventually, I looked up the best information I could find about my life expectancy. For someone born in my generation with this mutation, it was about 40 years. The statistics suggested that spinal tumors would be the most debilitating, but kidney cancer was a more likely killer. Just as these odds implied, I have spent the past 25 years battling pancreatic cancer, adrenal tumors, kidney cancer, and several spinal tumors.

I mention this personal background for two reasons. The first is that my condition gave me a sense of urgency to make the best use of my time, which proved to be deeply meaningful and rewarding. I want to help you foster a similar sense of urgency.

None of us truly knows how much more time we have. After living more than 25 years since my diagnosis, on what some see as borrowed time, Ive learned that time is more valuable when you can see your mortality on the horizon. Recent research found that kids who battle cancer somehow emerge stronger when compared to peers who have not faced a similar challenge. In particular, when people after the age of 12 battle cancer and survive, they are more likely to experience what scientists call post-traumatic growth .

Why does this occur? A review of 18 studies suggests that the prospect of death leads to greater appreciation of life, more rapid formulation of values, more thought about the meaning of life, and stronger social connections. As I have learned from experience, when you consider how short life can be, you create more meaning in the world.

Initially, I did not think I would live as long as I have. Now, I do not believe it is in anyones best interest to live like they have forever. When you view your time as finite, you build more life into each day.

The second reason I mention my condition is that its recently led me to a great deal of reflection and questioning about the state of work in general. I have been trying to figure out how all of us can reorient our efforts toward making the most substantive contribution possible over a lifetime. This is what I have learned thus far, as a product of extensive research and exploration: we need a whole new way to think about our lifes work.

Our current means for summarizing a persons work are grossly inadequate. Resumes are remarkably sterile and lifeless. A typical bio is so impersonal it is devoid of what makes one unique. In the chapters that follow, I will describe a new way to look at any work you do. Think of it as moving from:

You are what you do You are how you help

The central idea is to consider how you can use your talents to make more meaningful contributions over a lifetime. In reality, we all make a series of small efforts each day. Yet we often fail to connect our daily work with the positive influence it has on something bigger than ourselves. We need a new language to identify and describe these contributions over time.

To help you contribute more in the future, my team and I developed a new website. This book and the accompanying Contribify website will guide you in building an ongoing portfolio of your most formative experiences and the roles you play, and in identifying where you can make your greatest contributions. This information will enable you to hone your work into something that is more successful and satisfying with each passing year.