In Thomas Merton’s autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, Merton is pondering his life’s work. At some point in their lives, successful people struggle with their purpose, goals, and direction. In a conversation with his friend and mentor, Robert Lax, Merton is confronted by Lax, who suggests Merton should aim higher with his ambitions than being a writer:
“’What you should say’- [Lax] told me-“what you should say is that you want to be a saint.’”
“A saint! The thought struck me as just a little weird. I said: ‘How do you expect me to become a saint?’”
“’By wanting to,’ said Lax.”
If you are to do great things, you must first choose to do great things. This is not always easy, not always fun. However it is simple. In his famous speech titled, “The Common Denominator of Success,” first delivered in 1940 at the NALU Convention in Philadelphia, Albert E. N. Gray uttered a timeless truth:
“The common denominator of success — the secret of success of every [person] who has ever been successful — lies in the fact that he formed the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do.”
So what do you choose? Will it be to aim higher? You must first decide, then gather your resources, develop a strategy, put it into a plan, then do it. As I said, a decision for greatness is not always easy, but very simple.
It’s time. Make the decision. Choose.
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