You’ll Never Be Great Until You Understand That Greatness Is Self Bestowed

What we do isn’t what makes us great. What makes us great isn’t even tied to who we are and how “good” we are at something. Greatness is what happens on the other end when someone receives something from us. How we make a person feel and how much they value what it took for us to express who we are through what we do, is what makes us great.

Greatness can’t be earned, no matter how hard you work at something and no matter how perfect your final work is. Greatness isn’t something that people assign to you because of who you are or what you’ve done —to be great is a choice that we have to make first. We have to “know” that we are great, before we can be great and before anyone else will echo that belief.

Greatness comes down to accepting who you are, apart from who others tell you that you are, and their opinions of you. It comes down to mastering the traits and qualities that make us human, like something as simple as a genuine smile that says “you matter” without even saying a word. A simple smile says so much about how you see others, as a result of how you see yourself.

The little things done on the consistent basis is what builds us up to being recognized as someone great in the eyes of others. To be great is a conscious decision, and we must see ourselves that way first before anyone else ever will. One thing that all people that achieve greatness have in common is that they are fully aware of themselves and how well they do the little things in relation to what they love doing. They spend time more time expressing who they are through what they’re good at, and they don’t waste time beating themselves up over areas that don’t allow them the full range of self-expression.

People that achieve noteworthy success in a great way, do the little things in a big way — in a way that only they can do it. They project themselves in everything that they do, and not in a shy way. Being great means that you aren’t afraid to show the world who you “really” are, by doing things in a way that may not be how others think it should be done — or how they think you should do it.

How we do things, is how we communicate to others how we see ourselves but what we choose to do is just as important, if not more. What we do is only an extension of who we believe ourselves to be, whether it be our hobbies, our jobs or the crazy dream that we drop everything else for, to pursue.

If your aim for being great is so that others will notice you and give you the credit that you think you deserve, you’ll never be great. You’ll be recognized for what you did, but you won’t be recognized for what you gave — we’re noticed for what we do, but we’re never forgotten for what we gave. What we give is tied more into how we see ourselves, and we can only give in a great way if we see ourselves as great, first.

Greatness isn’t earned, it’s self-bestowed. How you do the small things (preferably the things that you love) shows that you actually believe that you are “that” great.