Becoming A Meaningful Specific
One of the quotes that had great impact on my life when I was in college was Zig Ziglar’s famous question, “Are you a meaningful specific or a wandering generality?” This quote came to mind as I was thinking about the ingredients that make a life of purpose, direction and productivity. A keen study of the lives of people who excel will reveal that the main ingredient for their success is usually one thing: passion. Their dedication to a cause, belief in people and commitment to living their best life come from their passion. They find the one thing they really enjoy doing, then do it with passion. Passion is the key ingredient to success.
Where does passion come from? How can we use it to become meaningful specifics? Passion is born out of desire – having a dream, vision or longing to see something different from a current situation. What do you see in your future? What’s your dream? Martin Luther King Jnr. was a very passionate man because he had a dream for racial equality. Princess Diana had a passion for charity work because she wanted to see a better world. Your passion will enable you to soar from obscurity and into the limelight. Your passion will enable you to realize something greater than yourself. Your passion will enable you to be a meaningful specific.
Passion is effective when it is birthed from the inside. You must be motivated intrinsically. You cannot exhibit passion on the outside when deep down you are shallow. You’ve got to cultivate it deep within yourself. That comes by immersing yourself wholeheartedly into pursuing your vision or dream. Here are two keys to help you birth passion:
a). Relentless Dedication – In order to become a meaningful specific, you must be relentlessly dedicated to making your dream come true. What are you doing on a daily basis that is adding value to your ability to fully become who you were born to be? Are you being true to the voice within you that is calling you to perform at your optimum level?
b). Steady Focus – Steady Focus comes from always having your vision right in front of you. Think about why you have immense success driving every day – the windshield is right in front of you and you are always looking out through it! It’s the same thing with your dream. You must keep it right in front of you. There are many ways that you can do this. Write it down and recite it throughout the day. Design your environment to remind you of your vision every day.
Are you a meaningful specific?
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Herman 4 Hamilton 
Why should we strive to become a meaningful specific?
Is the history of our world not driven by the general generality? Are the apparently chaotic masses not more powerful than any such meaningful specific? The emerging economic prowess of China is not because of an individual. The violence in western Asia is not due to any individual either. The lives of people in rural India has not been affected by the political turmoil of the biggies high-up.
If we consider history to be the lives of people, and not dates attached to monarchs, I’d rather believe that the collective is always more powerful than any meaningful specific.
The only exceptions are the likes of Christ, or Prophet Mohammad, or Gautama Buddha.
Thanks for visiting. The main thrust of Ziglar’s quote in on the need to discover one’s personal purpose. It’s not about the general generality but the wandering generalities – people that have no purpose and seem to be drifting in life. Great line of thinking buddy!
I understand your point Herman. I also understand perfectly well what is meant by the quote (about the purposeless wandering).
I wanted to bring out the view that the apparently chaotic mass that consists of these wandering individuals moves our world in one general direction or the other — however unconscious that process may be. Moreover, the strength of this mass could perhaps be stronger than any strong individual.
This, of course, is simply a question I raise . . . a mere speculation.
I like your speculation. When you really think about it, it’s the masses that rule. The human engine is first and last an engine that runs on the power of masses – Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jnr, Nelson Mandela, even Hitler (sorry to say) would have been drops in the ocean were it not for the masses. Denis Diderot said, “Genius is present in every age, but the men carrying it within them remain benumbed unless extraordinary events occur to heat up and melt the mass so that it flows forth”. Masses make changes happen because they are the sum of the individuals who desire change. Numbers means powers. The general with the most people has a higher chance of winning against the one with fewer numbers. Thanks for challenging my thinking. You have a way of bringing out the best in people.