nonprofits

There Is No Prize Out There

January 10, 2011 · By Sloane Davidson, Founder and CEO, Hello Neighbor

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I talk a lot about cause-filled living and what it means to incorporate cause into your life everyday. Often when asked why I am the way I am, or why I care so much, I answer that it started small and has grown to be a big part of who I am and that I would be this way no matter where I lived or what I did because it's who I am on the inside.

Kevin Spacey gives an amazing answer to a question in the video above to "What is the ultimate prize?" While it is from Inside The Actor's Studio, it rings true for any profession and any ambitions that we have inside of us.

There is no prize out there for how it feels to make others feel good, or to be a good neighbor or a good friend or a global citizen. There might be prizes and accolades. There might be the power of influence. But what it really comes down to is what type of person are you?

Do you help those in need? Do you help yourself and love yourself when you are in need? When you look at your ambitions and what legacy you want to leave, are your motives pure? Are your parents proud of the person you've become? Are you proud of the person you've become?

*It's never too late to be the person you want to be. *

It's never too late to realize that the true prize of looking around and supporting your peers to be the best they can be. Believe that you have something to give to this world and cultivate that and believe in it.

As a reminder, here is an exercise. Write down on a post-it note a strong and powerful statement about yourself. Next, put that note on a mirror in your house. Every time you look in the mirror you'll see your reminder to yourself and take a moment to not just see your writing, but to feel it and to become it.

There is no prize out there. There is only the prize within.