Richelle Hofer

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about significance.

It’s been occupying a lot of my brain space and JR and I have been chatting about it at home. We’ve both reached that point in life where, realistically, the number of days behind us is probably greater than the number of days ahead. That realization makes me want to pause and ask:

Have I done anything significant with my life?

The Questions That Won’t Leave Me Alone

What is significance, really?

Is it simply “something that really matters?” I think it is. But then I got to thinking about how slippery that definition is. Because what matters—to who? What matters to one person might be irrelevant to another. And what mattered to me ten years ago might not even make the list today.

Is significance just a matter of opinion?

If it is, then whose opinion gets the final say?

That question feels dangerously important.

Because if I let someone else define what a significant life looks like—if I borrow someone else’s blueprint—I’ll always feel like I’m falling short. Like I’m reaching for something just out of reach, always adjusting, always hustling to stay in alignment with someone else’s idea of “enough.”

A Story That Stuck With Me

I’m reading Empire of Pain right now, the story of the Sackler family and the opioid crisis. It’s unsettling—page after page of power and wealth built on human suffering. But one story in particular won’t leave me alone.

It’s about Arthur Sackler, one of the patriarchs of the family. At a pivotal moment, he had the choice to attend the “birthing” of his company… or the birth of his son.

He chose the company.

And I’ve just kept thinking: Was that moment significant to him? Was the empire he built worth missing the birth of his child? Was the money, the legacy, the prestige—was any of it significant? I’m sure that by a lot of peoples definitions, it was.

What Feels Significant Now

Here’s where I’ve landed.

I don’t think money is significance.

That’s not to say money doesn’t matter—it does. I used to have a bigger paycheck and a smaller voice. But a few years ago, I chose a different path. I launched my own business, not because it would make me richer, but because it would make me freer.

And that freedom is significant to me.

Freedom to do work I believe in.

Freedom to serve people I truly care about.

Freedom to say yes to the things I value and no to the things I don’t.

Freedom to design a life that feels like mine.

That, to me, is significance.

Not the kind you put on a résumé or write in a bio. The kind you feel deep in your chest. The kind you’d fight for if someone tried to take it from you.

Defining It for Yourself

I think everyone wants to do something that matters. But you can’t measure your own significance with someone else’s ruler. Because rulers break. Expectations shift. Praise fades.

And applause? It’s fickle.

People might cheer you on one day and criticize you the next—sometimes for the exact same thing. One minute you’re inspiring, the next you’re “too much.” One season you’re the golden child, the next you’re misunderstood, left out, or even resented.

The approval of others is a moving target. You can hit the bullseye today and still wake up tomorrow to find the board’s been moved.

If your value is tethered to their applause, you’ll constantly be chasing, adjusting, shrinking, or striving. You’ll build a life that looks impressive but feels hollow.

To live a truly significant life, I think you have to know yourself. You have to be willing to ask the hard questions. You have to be honest about what matters most to you—not your peers, not your parents, not even your past self.

You have to keep coming back to yourself and asking: What do I want my life to stand for?

You have to keep working to create a life you’re proud of even if no one claps.

Just Me, Thinking Out Loud

Maybe this is just me journaling with the door cracked open. I’m still figuring out what significance means to me, and I imagine I always will be. But I know this: I don’t want to chase someone else’s version of it. I want to build a life that feels significant, not just looks significant.