By Yusuf Bulafu

Assalam alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Cont’d …

Impact and truth: The pinnacle of pursuit

At the uppermost level of human aspiration lies a pursuit that surpasses personal gain, social validation, or even internal mastery. It is the pursuit of impact and more profoundly, the pursuit of truth. These two, when woven together, represent the highest and most demanding use of one’s life: to live not merely for the self, but for others, and not merely for others, but in alignment with ultimate reality.

The pursuit of impact marks a turning point. It emerges when one begins to question the purpose of their talents, their energy, and their time. Excellence is no longer satisfying if it exists in a vacuum. A voice asks: What is all this for? And the answer, increasingly, becomes outward facing. One begins to measure success not by metrics of personal growth, but by the lives touched, the problems alleviated, the systems improved, the truth defended, and the goodness sustained.

To live for impact is to live in service. This may take the form of community development, mentorship, innovation, activism, teaching, or caregiving. It is not always grand or visible. Often, it is quiet and sacrificial. But its distinguishing feature is that it reorients the individual from achievement to contribution. It demands that one’s effort becomes a channel for benefit that reaches beyond the self.

Yet, impact alone is not enough. A person can leave a mark on the world and still fall short of truth. Influence does not equal virtue. Great harm has been done throughout history by those who were highly impactful but guided by flawed principles, corrupt ambitions, or distorted ideologies. Therefore, the pursuit of truth must accompany and elevate the pursuit of impact.

Truth, in this context, is the recognition of one’s place in relation to the Creator. It is the commitment to live in alignment with divine will, not simply personal desire or public opinion. Truth provides the compass by which all other pursuits are calibrated. It refines the intention behind action and ensures that what is done for people is ultimately done for God.

Together, impact and truth produce a life of deep integrity. A life that seeks to serve, but not for recognition, that changes lives, but without losing its soul. When these two pursuits converge, a person becomes not only beneficial in society but elevated in the sight of their Lord.

And something remarkable happens here: the lower pursuits—those that many spend their lives chasing—begin to reverse direction. They come not as goals but as gifts. Wealth may arrive as provision, prestige may follow as a byproduct, even happiness returns—this time, not as something chased, but as something granted. When a person aligns their life with impact and truth, what others run after often begins to run toward them.

Yet it must be said: not everyone reaches this level. For some, happiness is the only pursuit they have ever known. For others, popularity, prestige, or wealth remain lifelong fixations. These pursuits are not necessarily the stages people grow through. In many lives, they remain permanent addresses. And perhaps that is what makes the higher pursuits so rare and so noble.

To pursue truth and impact is to accept difficulty. It is to carry the weight of responsibility and to walk a path that may not be celebrated by others. But it is also to step into the fullest potential of what a human being was created to become: not a consumer of pleasure, nor a seeker of praise but a witness to truth and a source of mercy on the earth.

This is the summit. And though it is not crowded, it is where the greatest clarity, peace, and permanence are found.

To be continued …