Somewhere amongst a very stressful week, I came across three very insightful postings from the web. Together, they form a powerful message.

Let me start off with sport. Football’s World Cup in Russia is but one of a myriad of great events these days. For example, the Brits are lining up for their annual two week tennis binge at Wimbledon in south west London. It is a wonderful event. If you pardon the phrase, the buzz of the crowds can be heard even during the silence of the points as they are played….,

…except for Lee Duck-hee. This 20 year old South Korean, deaf from birth, is a professional player and has been trying to qualify for the tournament.  I find it astounding that he has found a method to overcome the lack of hearing so key for others in their 100% fight on the court. Can you imagine trying to play the game without listening to the sound of how the ball has been it or if it caught the net? That requires an extra level of determination.

Somewhat staying with sports, I came across a post from motivational speaker David Flood. He described how his physically challenged son took part in an ice hockey game and what he learnt from the moment when his son actually scored. I will not spoil the whole story , but he signs off by demanding that we look inside ourselves.

“Your life is not about you”, Flood reminds us. It is how we interact we all – yes, all – those around us and what we can learn from them.

My final item leads me into the world of high-tech. We are used to hearing stories of people starting out in garages or dropping out of university before they reap their millions. However the founder of Flickr and Slack, Stewart Butterfield, has a very unique background.

(He) spent the first five years of his life living on a commune in remote Canada after his father fled the US to avoid serving in the Vietnam War. The young Mr Butterfield and his parents lived in a log cabin in a forest in British Columbia, and for three years they had no running water or electricity.

Think that unusual? Butterfield originally contemplated a career as a professor of philosophy. And today, his personal fortune is estimated at around US$650 million. Clearly, living in the wilds of Canada do not act as a boundary to becoming one of the world’s wealthiest people.

I am a business coach and mentor. My office is in Jerusalem, Israel, a region where miracles are supposed to be ever present. Somehow, while these characters may have prayed, I do not believe they relied purely on an exterior force. They asked what else they could do of themselves in order to succeed.

So what will you contemplate about your future this weekend?