If you've got the platform and the ability to make a difference, then this goes beyond 'should' and reaches the level of 'must.' You must make a difference or you squander the opportunity. Wasting the opportunity both degrades your own ability to contribute and, more urgently, takes something away from the rest of us.

It takes three years to be an overnight success, sometimes more.

People are buying only one thing from you: the way the engagement (hiring you, working with you, dating you, using your product or service, learning from you) makes them feel.

Playing the game is a form of winning the game. In those competitions, we win by being resilient.

Not changing your strategy merely because you're used to the one you have now is a lousy strategy.

Your peer group are people with similar dreams, goals and worldviews. They are people who will push you in exchange for being pushed, who will raise the bar and tell you the truth. They're not in your business, but they're in your shoes. Finding a peer group and working with them, intentionally and on a regular schedule, might be the single biggest boost your career can experience.

If your project or organization depends on knowing things that other people don't know (but could find out if they wanted to), your days are probably numbered. Ask a travel agent The alternative, while difficult, is obvious. Provide enough non-commodity service and customization that it doesn't matter if the ideas spread. In fact, it will help you when they do.