By Jim Fannin

Do you matter? Are you pertinent in the lives of others? Are you the difference in your company’s success? Does your child’s success depend on you?

Five of my clients were recently asked the question, “Are you relevant?” One is a father of three and he loves each one with all his heart. The other has been married for 11 years? The third person has a great job as a national sales manager at a globally recognized financial services firm. The fourth person is a professional baseball player. The fifth person is a professional golfer.

Being relevant means that you matter. You are a difference maker. You are pertinent. You are an influencer of thought. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, relevant means “having significant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand.”

Are you relevant?

Are you relevant as a parent in the guidance and nurture of your children’s lives? Are they being molded into future, adult decision makers with solid principles and values? Are you conscious in how you are developing and shaping their way of thinking and living?

As a “significant other” are you relevant in making your partner a better person? Do you add value to their life. Of course, you did at one time in the relationship. How’s it going now? Is this best friend happy in life? Are you helping him or her reach their dreams? Take a hard look at your current influence or lack thereof. How is your impact on his or her future? It’s easy to get derailed with your own career and challenges. Isn’t it time to take stock of the situation and move the relationship to the next level?

Great leaders are relevant. But, are you relevant in the minds of your business team? Does your presence really make them better? Are you relevant within the overall corporate structure and the industry itself? How about your customers or clients? How relevant are you in terms of their expectations with your products and services? Does what you think about them matter? If you suddenly disappeared would it matter? Are you relevant?

When your professional baseball team markets their product, are you relevant and part of the discussion? Young professional baseball stars Bryce Harper of the Washington National is relevant in the long-term marketing of his team. Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels is relevant in the overall discussions with the team’s television network partner, as well as the other corporate partners. Are you relevant as a player to the point that no fans go to the bathroom or to the hot dog stand when you’re up to bat? Does the opposing pitcher stay up the night before he pitches thinking about facing you? That’s being relevant!

Are you relevant enough that ticket sales increase dramatically because you entered the pro golf tournament? Does the pro shop sell out because of you? Does the rest of the field feel uncomfortable playing with you because of the size of your gallery? Tiger Woods was relevant. His demise over the past few years almost single handedly crippled the golf industry. Will he get this relevance back? Only time will tell. Winning the Masters would be relevant in his image and persona to Nike and his other sponsors.

Being relevant starts with your positive thinking. Know that all of your thoughts are being broadcast either through your body language, verbal communication, or intuitive vibe. All of your thoughts matter. They definitely matter in you being relevant.

What’s your purpose in life? Why do you do what you do? Does it really matter? These questions have been asked for centuries. They’ve been whispered to no one in particular by millions of people before they slept.

Trust me. You matter. Start by becoming the MVP within your family. Branch out to the neighbors. Spread your thoughts of positivity like seeds in the wind. Change your company with your unbridled energy and enthusiasm. Change your community by seeing a better place to live and then volunteering to help do something about it.

Look in every one of your life arenas. Are you relevant? Absolutely! Get busy. Make it so.