Have you ever seen one of these?
What are they called?
That’s right, it’s (obviously) a sandwich! But, do you know why it is called a sandwich?
I was curious about this the other day and I looked it up and I was a bit surprised. Here is what I found on the topic:
“The sandwich is named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, an eighteenth-century English aristocrat. It is commonly said that Lord Sandwich, during long sessions of cribbage and other card games at public gambling houses, would order his valet to bring him salt beef between two pieces of toasted bread.”
After I read this, my wife turned to me and asked something I think may be one of the most insightful questions ever. She said, “I wonder if he knew that all these years later people would still refer to him, when making lunch.”
Having heard her insightful question, I responded, “Probably not. But that is why it is so important that we live a life of excellence. We never know what we do today that may be imitated for hundreds of years. We never know what our legacy will be.”
This may be a strange way to speak on the importance of living a life of excellence but, as leaders, I hope we are finding these types of lessons in all sorts of odd places! The reality that we face is that the enemy of greatness is not mediocrity. The antithesis of excellence is not being terrible. The opposite of awesome is not “ehh”. The thing that keeps us from living a life of excellence, impact, and leaving a positive legacy is the status quo, apathy and a lack of seeing lessons in simple conversations.
It may be the way we eat our lunch. It may be the way we run our meetings. It may be the way that we park our car. It may not seem to matter at all to us. But we never know what we do that will change the world. What is your “sandwich”? What do you do that someone might copy…that might become a trend…that might be remembered and imitated in a thousand years? The reality is, we don’t know. So, what do we do? LEADERS LIVE WITH EXCELLENCE.
My challenge to each of us today is to live a life of excellence. Every conversation, every action, every thought. Let’s live in a way that we WANT to be remembered and imitated. Let’s leave a legacy that we and our families can be proud of. Let’s do great things. Let’s change the world!
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