The Purpose Principles by Jake Ducey

Author:Jake Ducey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2014-12-02T16:00:00+00:00

Gabe Eggerling

I met and interviewed ten-year-old Gabe Eggerling. Eggerling is a boy who has donated more than two thousand books to kids who don’t have any money and can’t buy books. He’s done this for kids that live in places ranging from Southern California to Guatemala. I met him because we both gave a TED talk the same night. He was wearing a Superman costume, and his talk was on how superheroes are ordinary people just like us. Or rather, extraordinary people just like us.

Every week, Eggerling receives drawings, pictures, and thank-you letters from kids who have received his books. He’s been featured in books with presidents of the United States for the incredible things he’s accomplished. Remember, he is ten years old. I asked him about overcoming the fear of being too young. He said, “It doesn’t matter how old you are.” He went on to explain that age is just a number, that age isn’t real. He said, “As long as you believe in yourself, as long as you’re creative, and as long as you are yourself, you can achieve anything. It doesn’t matter how old you are. And it doesn’t matter how young you are.”

Eggerling started helping thousands of people when he was just seven years old. But just because he is an incredible young man doesn’t mean that he doesn’t face challenges. He’s had people tell him time and again that he’s too young, that he should go sit at a kiddie table, or that he needs to wait ten or twenty years before he can really make a difference. He’s also been denied numerous projects. I asked him how that made him feel. He replied, “It hurts! It really hurts me. The most important thing isn’t how old you are, it’s how you act, it’s how strong you are, and how responsible you are. It’s not how many numbers you are, because numbers aren’t real. I’ve been doing what I’ve been doing for three years, so that proves that age isn’t important. If you have an arm, a leg, two lungs, and your toes, that’s all that matters. None of your excuses are legitimate, and even if you don’t have any of that, even if you’re missing an arm or a leg, you can still do it, because you have a heart, you have a spirit, and you have determination inside of you—even if you haven’t accessed it yet. You’re gonna face challenges, but look for the solutions.”

When Eggerling ran out of funding to help kids around the world, he found partners. He looked at his problem, which was a lack of resources, and solved it. This is a great example, because lack of resources is a problem that many of us encounter. Whether it’s not having enough money, not having enough people to sell a product to, not having a house, or not having courage, most of us have experienced this problem. We must stop thinking about this problem and look for the solution like Eggerling did.

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