We Have A Duty

You and I have a duty. A duty to do something great with our life. We can’t settle. We can’t waste time. Consider this for a moment, if Andrew Carnegie was financially successful at a time when the automobile didn’t exist, at a time when airplanes didn’t exist, at a time when TV didn’t exist, at a time when cell phones didn’t exist, at a time when the internet didn’t exist, then we can too. Carnegie said a man must do three things:

To spend the first third of one’s life getting all the education one can.
To spend the next third making all the money one can.
To spend the last third giving it all away for worthwhile causes.

I don’t like the idea of treating these actions as linear, so we can do these all at once. We should all be trying to learn, make money, and give all of the time. Do not mistake my claim for making money so that we can attain more material goods. No, we should try to make money so that we can make the world a better place. So that we can give. So that we can help those who are less fortunate. Because, when we die, we won’t look back on our life and wish we had more material things. We’ll look back on our life and reflect upon all of the good that we did.

Today, we can reach anyone in a split second. We can share our thoughts for the world to read. Since you’re reading this, you already have an advantage. You have more knowledge than the general populace, you have access to the internet, you are better off than at least a quarter of the world. You can do this with me. I need your help, I can’t do this alone. I need you to envision all of the good that we can do.

Will you join me in not watching much TV so that we can work for a cause? Will you join me in sharing ideas with your friends? Will you join me in building businesses that aren’t just socially responsible, but are actually philanthropic? Will you join me in changing the world?