As a young girl in Ghana with only sticks for toys, Mary Spio's father would tell her, "Small hinges swing big doors."
The smallest act could start a chain reaction that might eventually impact the world. This minor phrase held a great significance for Spio, who moved to the U.S. on her own at age 16 in order to change her circumstances and build her own path to greatness.
Within a decade, despite not having seen a computer until age 17, she was designing and launching satellites into deep space with a NASA project, heading up a satellite communications team for Boeing, and pioneering digital cinema technology for LucasFilms that redefined the distribution method for major motion pictures.
In Spio's new book, "IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE: 7 Game-Changing Traits for Achieving Uncommon Success," she offers advice and insights that reveal what successful people do differently.
Why am I here?
That is perhaps the most important question in life.
From a very young age, we start the search for our reason for existence. When we discover the answer to this question, it validates our existence and our lives. Finding the answer brings joy, peace and fulfillment, as well as material success.
Until this question is answered, we often feel as if a part of us is missing. We are restless, aimless, with a deep longing within our soul. Without a life of meaning and significance, the human experience becomes a breeding ground for hopelessness.
Humans have been asking the "why" question for thousands of years. The answer is quite simple: We are here to discover and live our greatness. We are wired for challenge, not monotony. We are meant for something far greater than working in a meaningless job, eating, sleeping and watching TV.
The journey to greatness starts with looking inside ourselves. It is that place where you are radically passionate about what you're doing, you are naturally gifted to do that thing, and you are using that passion and those gifts to solve problems and serve others.
When you operate in that space, you've found what you're here to do.
Source: Mary Spio: It's Not Rocket Science: 7 Game-Changing Traits for Uncommon Success
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