When I was in Northern Ireland a number of years back, I was giving a leadership presentation, and a lot of the attendees were saying to me, “Robin, have you heard about this man called Joey Dunlop?” I said, “No, I don’t know who Joey Dunlop is.” They said, “We think you should look him up.”So I did some research and I found out that Joey Dunlop was a five-time world motorcycle racing champion. Joey Dunlop was a man who was inspired and revered by the people in his country. Joey Dunlop was a sports superstar. Sadly, Joey Dunlop was killed when the motorcycle he was driving hit a tree under wet conditions in Tallinn, Estonia. But here’s what really inspired me about Joey Dunlop. When no one was watching, he would take the trailers that would carry his motorcycles and he would fill them with food. He would drive to Romania and would feed hungry orphans with his bare hands. When Joey Dunlop died, 50,000 people streamed into the streets to sing testimony to the way that he conducted his life. When Joey Dunlop died, 50,000 people left their work, left their homes, left what they were doing to attend his funeral to honor the way that he led and the way he lived and the way he showed heroism not only in easy times, but in hard times. And so, I propose to you that when you get to the end of your life, only two things are going to matter. Number one, who did you become? In other words, did you use your days as platforms of possibility? Who did you become? Did you use your trials to build triumphs? Who did you become? Did you use your opportunity for work to deliver value and magic to people? Who did you become? Did you read the great books? Did you take the great trips? Did you build the great business? Did you create great products? Did you create a world-class lifestyle for you and your family? Who did you become? The second thing that I believe will be important when you get to the end, how many human beings did you help? I think the one who helps the most wins the greatest.
