Over the past two weeks I have been writing about and sharing my thoughts as well as my personal journey towards being impactful. For me, having a “so what” moment as it related to being successful really opened my eyes and allowed me to ask: “What am I leaving behind? Whose lives am I touching? What stories will be shared about me? Was I serving others or myself?” Focusing on being impactful has taught me many lessons and showed me the challenges that I shared with you last week.

As entrepreneurs, small business owners, and leaders, we are given immense responsibility as well as a platform to affect others. What we do with this platform is what matters. Many entrepreneurs grapple with the question, “How the heck do you measure impact?” “How do you measure something that is not measurable by the standards and metrics that businesses use?”

You can’t: It is 100% impossible to measure the impact and way that you, your leadership, your company and its actions touch people at the heart level.

Success is simple to quantify. You establish a target to achieve a certain level of sales, revenue, or profit. You make X amount of widgets or gain Y number of new customers. The acts, words, deeds, and how you inspire the people around you are what will be remembered long after the success fades. I always enjoy telling this tale because it demonstrates how I was able to experience incredible impact. Although intangible, it has been with me since the first time I saw it.

I attended a study abroad exchange program through Colorado State University and lived in Alcala de Henares, Spain in 2002. My daily strolls down the Calle Mayor (the city’s main street) had me passing local shops, cafes and restaurants. I could smell the fresh baked pastries and hear the steam from the café con leches being made. My ears were on sensory overload as I took in all of the Castillian Spanish and its distinct accent as I passed by the hundreds of people chatting every day.

Another thing that I noticed was the number of homeless people living or sitting on the Calle Mayor. They had outstretched hands, cups, signs and stories begging for anyone’s attention. Some just sat and waited for money to be dropped into a cup and some were more vocal about their survival needs.

One of the men I could not get out of my mind was a man with no legs who was on the Calle Mayor everyday. He usually hung out on the corner of the Calle Mayor and the Plaza Cervantes (the city’s central plaza). When he wanted to move locations he would push himself up on his cracked and bloody fists to swing himself up and down the street. No matter what, one thing stayed the same: this man was always alone.

I was sitting across the street from this man one day, except he wasn’t alone; he was sitting next to a mother and her wailing infant. This woman was likewise homeless, and I had seen her on Calle Mayor asking for money. Her cup was empty for whatever reason on this particular day. You could detect more desperation, sadness, loneliness, and uncertainty in her eyes today than normal. She wasn’t only asking for money today for some reason. She was sobbing, nearly wailing, that she attracted a lot of attention to herself. People passed by, nearly not noticing her as she continued to do so. This man with no legs arrived and sat close to the wife and her kid. He reached over and poured his cup into hers, which held a small handful of pennies.

My breath was taken away; I was shocked and I was speechless. The Calle Mayor was typically a competitive stomping ground for the homeless and destitute to go out and look out for themselves and only themselves. These people, each with their own story, struggled to live and eat everyday. They played for keeps in their soliciting for funds. They were doing nothing more than trying to live and survive. Success for them was having a full cup to get through to the next day. This man, also looking to survive and find his next meal, 100% made an impact on this woman and her baby that day.

As I finished my café con leche, got up from my chair and headed to my next class, I could not get that story out of my heart. It still touches me to this day and I love to share it as it relates to impact.

One question I always ask myself, and I encourage entrepreneurs to ask is: “Whose cup can I fill today?”