Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 338 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Creating, Living, and Leaving Your Legacy #2

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 338 of our trek. Yesterday and today we are focusing our trek on the legacy trail. Tomorrow we will shift our focus to discovering and implementing your life purpose through the beta version of Your Life Plan Blueprint Course. This may be a bit of a different format, so please feel free to provide us feedback.

Thank you so much for coming along with me on our daily trek through life as we are creating, living, and leaving a legacy, which is made possible as we grow in our wisdom, insight, and understanding. While some of our daily treks span multiple days, you can join us at any time and start along with us from that point on. If you would like to listen to any of the past episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal. You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, iHeart Radio, and Google Play so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

We are broadcasting from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. On Sunday, we wrapped up some loose ends at The Big House and headed back to our southern home. The weather was pleasant for our drive, and it was an uneventful trip as Paula and I shared driving responsibilities.

While I was driving, I finished the audio version of the book Essentialism by Greg McKeown. It is one of the better books that I have listened to recently. Greg makes some very interesting and good points that our lives can be much more effective when we when we pursue less. This is certainly a practice that I have been trying to implement in my life, so this book was definitely worth listening to. Living effective and impactful lives does not require that we obtain wealth, status, or an abundance of material things. Effectiveness and impact on the lives of others comes from what we are within.

This is what you should desire as you continue your focus on…

Creating, Living, and Leaving Your Legacy #2

Yesterday we established the first three points on a plan of action for legacy. We explored what it means to understand your legacy, deciding to choose your legacy, and then focusing on your legacy. Once you have completed this, you can move forward to…

4. Live Your Legacy

Now that you have a plan of action, it’s time to implement it. You will need to answer this question, “What must you change in the way you conduct yourself so that you live that legacy?” Your list may include behavioral changes, character development, education, working methods, relationship-building style, and other crucial elements. By changing the way you live, you will be able to create and live the legacy you want to leave for the world each day.

We all experience seasons of life and by living your legacy each day, your actions will be leaving a legacy. This action can be compared to passing the baton in a relay race. If you’ve ever watched a relay race, the most important moment of the race is the passing of the baton. The art of handing off that baton is quite spectacular when it’s done well. In western society, we don’t put that much credence on sitting at the feet of our elders and allowing them to transfer to us the legacy of their lives. I think that’s a great loss, and one of my passions is to change this through our daily Wisdom-Trek podcast.

Even if you don’t consider yourself an elder, if you have anyone who is being impacted by you, then you are the baton-passer. If you are a young father with children, prepare them for the race and be ready to pass the baton when appropriate. Practicing passing the baton is something that occurs little by little each day. Some day we will all take on the role of the elder, or you could say the baton-passer. Who will be your recipient? Who will you invite to sit at your feet?

Picture your life and the people in it as a succession of increasingly larger rings reaching out from a center point, which is you! Now think about how you can impact your legacy upon the people of those rings, starting with your family. Both your actions and words are your living legacy. You will leave a legacy behind for your children and younger family members, so make sure that you lead by example as well as by what you say. As they grow older, these younger generations will likely seek your wisdom and want to hear about your life experiences. Live in such a way that your experiences will be worth sharing and then share the lessons that have meant the most to you.

Back to the analogy of the rings. For many, the next ring outward is one’s primary occupation. Think about whom you could mentor in your work environment and how you might do that. Which of your core strengths could benefit others in their pursuit of a successful and meaningful life? As you get to know and work with others, where do you see unrealized potential, and how can you help them unleash it?

Many might think that today’s cutthroat business environment isn’t the place for cultivating such relationships. I look at it differently. The very soul of a free society and economy, at its heart, has an enormously generous spirit. We are starting to see a resurgence of the idea that business shouldn’t solely be about profit-making but contributing to people’s lives in a meaningful way. I realize there is certainly room for improvement.

The culture of work has largely become fragmented by people trying to serve their own needs and short-term loyalties. There is a great need for you to live your legacy, which will bring positive impact with your work team.

The next circle out in our analogy of those persons that are impacted by our living legacy are those you may not know well personally. This may take you out of your comfort zone, but your life can still impact them either directly or through others that you are impacting. Your living legacy will ripple through eternity.

You have experience and knowledge that others do not. Through living your legacy, as you share, you will help others in areas of their lives that you cannot even image. It is rewarding to see that “lightbulb” moment, illuminating the lives of generations to come, helping them navigate the road ahead. What’s the purpose of having 60, 80, 100 years of life unless we are willing to positively impact the lives of others?

It brings no value to others to have an enormous wealth of experiences if you do not share it. You must invest your time, talent and treasures to teach and to give it back. Who you really are in life is what survives you in death. That’s really a very different sort of concept. You need to step out of this moment in time and think about yourself in the chain of life from generation to generation. Then you need to take the steps necessary to make something of yourself and to share it so that your life will have an eternal impact.

Regardless of whether your wealth is money or experience 1 Timothy 6:17-19 gives us a great pattern to follow, “Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.”

Yesterday and today on our trek we focused on creating, living, and leaving our legacy. Tomorrow we move into an extended trail on life-planning, which will include the beta version of Your Life Plan Blueprint workbook that will be available for download. So, encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

That will finish our trek for today. As you enjoy your daily dose of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person so they can come along with us each day.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!