The question, “How will you be remembered?” is a big and heavy one.

Your Unwritten Legacy

In the speed-it-up world we live in, sometimes it’s hard to see past the next week, month, or even year.  However, I’m going to give you four reasons why you should obsess over your legacy today and every day after.  It will have a big impact on what you do tomorrow.

1. Perspective – A few weeks ago, my dad said something to me that his dad said to him many years ago.  He said, “There’s an old man waiting for you someday too son.”  It was said in a way only a father and his infinite wisdom could deliver.  I ask myself… What does that old man look like?  Where has he been? What will his friends say about him? What stories does he have to share?
2. Roadmap – Thinking about your legacy will provide you with a roadmap to decision making and seeing a bigger picture.  Where will you go?  What will you see?  What decisions do you need to make today to impact your legacy?  I challenge you to think about your legacy for the big decisions and you won’t be disappointed years later at where you end up.
3. Decision Making – Life offers many opportunities to make decisions.  If you’re like me, I’ve made some good ones and really bad ones.  Hopefully, I’ve learned from the bad decisions and I won’t make them again.  Today, the decisions I make are impacted by thinking about my legacy.  I feel it takes less weight off of an impending decision if I think about it in the much larger scope or bigger picture.
4. Who Will You Be – There is one thing you will leave behind that will outlast any money gifted to family, friends, or charities.  Your story.  Each of us has a chance to write the book backwards starting today.  Work on writing the last and most difficult chapter first.  We can work backwards from there and write a few chapters or hundreds.  The number of chapters isn’t up to us, but a legacy can be established either way.  “It’s not the years in your life, it’s the life in your years.”

To help my readers, here is snapshot of what I hope for my legacy.

Zac was an extremely passionate, energetic and successful individual who loved spending time with people and could light up a room with his presence.  He consistently challenged those around him to get better every single day.  He could be tough, but always fair and respectful.  No matter what the need or when, he was there for his closest friends and family in a moment’s notice.  Together, with this wife Beth, they would travel, see the world, and were always generous toward others.

ACTION ITEM:  Write and think about your legacy.  Some day, many years from now, you will meet your legacy and I hope it won’t be a stranger.