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Creating a Legacy ™

Creating, Living, and Leaving Your Legacy

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In our previous Wisdom Note, we explored 8 life lessons from hiking hard trails. This week we will focus on your legacy by creating, living, and leaving your legacy. If you miss any of our Wisdom Notes, please go to the blog to read past newsletters.

The Big House is part of our family legacy. It is the family homestead and very meaningful to all family members. We are blessed to be caretakers of the place. Legacy should be important in each of our lives. That is why this week we will focus on creating, living, and leaving your legacy.

One indisputable fact of life is that, at some point, we are all going to die. None of us is guaranteed another breath, let alone tomorrow or many years. Many people don’t like to think about it, let alone plan for it. Think for a moment if you would, what would you like your obituary to say? How you lived your legacy each day and the impact that you made on others through your time, talent, and treasures is what truly remains when you die and will impact all of eternity.

Creating and living your legacy during your life should be solely to benefit future generations. The full impact is something you will never see come to fruition. Just like a farmer who plants an apple tree, knowing he may never live to taste its fruits, living our legacy is a gift whose impact you will leave behind without expecting anything in return.

Just like that farmer’s sprouting tree, living legacies don’t happen overnight—and they don’t happen by accident. They’re deliberately crafted over years of wise choices, hard work, and dedication. This certainly does not require that all your resources be forfeited while you are still alive, but it does require a mind-shift. You have to understand that you are not really the owner of your God-given time, talents, and treasures but caretakers or stewards of them for as long as you are alive. There are some basic principles that are important in fulfilling your role as a steward.

1. Understand Your Legacy

First, you need to really grasp why it’s important to live and leave a legacy in the first place. To paraphrase one of my virtual mentors Jim Rohn, “The legacy we first live and then leave is part of the ongoing foundation of life. Those who came before impacted our lives and leave us the world we live in. Those who will come after will have only our impact on them and what we leave them. We are stewards of this world, and we have a calling in our lives to positively impact the lives of others and leave the world better than how we found it, even if it seems like our impact is small.”

2. Choose Your Legacy

Living a legacy comes in different shapes and forms, requiring varying levels of effort and commitment. You may have the resources to leave substantial financial legacies to companies or organizations that will impact the world. As you create and live your legacy, hone in on where you can have the greatest impact and choose to focus in those areas.

Legacy is much more than leaving resources to an organization. Leadership expert John Maxwell summed it up this way, “Too often, leaders put their energy into organizations, buildings, systems, or other lifeless objects, but only people live on after we are gone. Everything else is temporary.”

Dr. Ken Dychtwald determined that, “There is an enormous desire for people, especially when they are older, to share what they’ve learned, to pass on lessons of a lifetime, to teach, and to feel that their life experience is being invested, even planted, into the field of tomorrow.” Interesting is that there is also a natural, innate appetite on the part of younger generations to receive this legacy.

3. Focus Your Legacy

Granted, conveying the accumulated lessons of a lifetime is easier said than done. In deciding exactly what you want to put out into the world, look inward first.

Start by identifying your strengths. The most obvious place to look is your career or life experiences. You are trained to think of your skills and talents as what you do at work, but if you think of them as core strengths instead, you can begin to see how they are more widely applicable. You can live your legacy of impact through your strengths. Living your legacy should be a labor of love, not a chore. It should be that natural part of you that shines out because it is who you are.

This statement is important because it not only sets the direction for your life but it also determines the impact of your living legacy and the impact of you will leave throughout eternity. It is part of your daily trek.

Our living legacy should be an example to others to follow as we imitate God as is mentioned in Ephesians 5:1-2, “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.”

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.

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 the 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 a positive impact with your work team.

There is a great need for you to live your legacy, which will bring a 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 imagine. 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.”

Today we learned much about creating, living, and leaving your legacy. Next, we will begin the study of life-planning. Encourage your friends and family to join us on our 5-days a week podcast: Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

You Always Have a Choice

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In our previous Wisdom Note, we provided some practical advice for a younger generation. This week we will explore the subject of choice. If you miss any of our Wisdom Notes, please go to the blog to catch previous installments.

Have you ever said, “I have to do this,” or “I need to do that,” or “I have no other option,” or “I have no choice.” This can apply to anything in life, from your reactions to being in a predicament or even looking for solutions to small problems. The most common context I hear this phrase being used in is when people are doing work they dislike. As an example, they remain in the job because they need a stable income to support their expenditures and their family.

While you may think you have “no choice,” I think we would be wise to rethink this phrase when we are prone to use it. All of us always have choices, and we are making them every day, every minute, and every second.

You Always Have A Choice

I agree that you no longer have any choice or influence over what has already happened in the past. Those choices have already been made. However, you always have a choice in how you think, what you say, and what you do from this point forward. To use a gaming analogy, you can’t change the cards you are dealt, but you can change how you play them. Some of the cards that we currently have in our hands may also be the result of how we played them in the past.

Let’s look at an example. Say, you are in an accounting job you dislike. You want to pursue your passion of starting your own business. However, you have financial needs and responsibilities to fulfill to your family, which makes your source of income from your accounting job very important. You are in your current situation, based on your previous choices, so in order to pursue your passion, you must make the choices that will set you on the path that will eventually allow you to achieve that passion.

You may think, “How can there even be a choice? I have to remain in the company. If I don’t continue working here, I wouldn’t have the finances to support my family and pay my bills. Any other options are just not practical.”

Of course, you have a choice, but all choices have consequences. You could quit your job today and pursue your passion. That choice may be irresponsible if your family is dependent on that income. You could choose to stay on for now because you feel the benefits of staying on the job outweigh the benefits of quitting. The choice that you could make in this situation is to downsize your lifestyle for a period of time so you can live on less. You can also choose to start putting money aside now and prepare for a time when you can make the change while still being responsible. This choice may have to be a long-term plan. If it is truly your passion, then it will be worth the wait.

You Make Choices All the Time

We make many choices every day of our life that will impact us. Some choices have become routines or habits, and we do not give them much thought. To change your life, it starts with the small choices that we make each day. Since I know my morning routine better than I know yours, let’s break down the various choices I make on a regular workday. I am nearly 64, so don’t make excuses for yourself. It actually starts the night before.

Choice #1 – Before bed, I always lay out my exercise clothes so I am not stumbling around in the dark the next morning trying to find them. This sets the stage for me to keep my commitment.
Choice # 2 – I wake up at 4:45 am. I usually feel really tired but choose to get up. The snooze button is not an option for me.
Choice # 3 – I go to the bathroom and get dressed for exercise.
Choice # 4 – I exercise for about 90 minutes, which includes 15 minutes of various types of muscle-building exercises and 75 minutes of cardio running on a HIIT training machine.
Choice #5 – I listen to scripture reading, devotional materials, and inspirational podcasts while on the treadmill. (Smartphones are great.)
Choice # 6 – I shower and get dressed for the day.
Choice # 7 – I record my podcast for the next day.
Choice # 8 – I eat a healthy breakfast, which usually consists of a nutritional protein drink or eggs and a handful of baby carrots.
Choice # 9 – I am at my standing desk at 8am ready for the day’s activities.

Although it has become my morning routine and habit, do you see that everything I do each morning is actually a choice? Actions, whether they are benign or life-changing in nature, are all choices we make. When you undertake a certain path in life, it is a choice you make.

Next we will look at the impact and potential consequences of a scenario if I make a different choice #2 and do not get up at 4:45 am. Through this, you will see that there really are no small choices because the accumulation of small choices adds up to very big consequences, both good and bad.

As Proverbs 2:11 tells us, “Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.”

Ecclesiastes 10:2 says, “A wise person chooses the right road; a fool takes the wrong one.”

We are continually making choices every moment of every day. Some choices may seem small and insignificant, but the accumulation of those choices may have a great impact on our life and legacy.

As we ponder how you always have a choice, we realize that it really is up to ourselves. Next week we will continue on our trail of choices as we investigate how the impact of one small choice change in my morning routine could have a major impact on my entire life. So, encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

3 Steps to Live Your Dreams

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In our previous Wisdom Note, we explored the power of patience. These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy. If you miss any of our Wisdom Notes please go to the blog to read past newsletters.

The days seem to slip by so quickly it is almost like grasping water or embracing the wind. You can see the results and feel the impact, but it is almost impossible to control the flow. That is why it is so important to enjoy each day for what it is and to live your dreams each day. We should not wait for some magical moment in the future because when tomorrow arrives it is already today.

We also need to stop comparing ourselves to others. You are uniquely you, and your circumstances are different. Comparison will eventually lead to despair because there is always someone who appears to be better in any area of comparison…which is usually just our perception and not reality. To live your dreams, you only need to compare yourself to where you were yesterday and what is your God-given ability and purpose for your life. Remember that you are creating and living your legacy each day.

So let’s head out for this week as we hike our own trail and discover the 3 steps of how to…

Live Your Dreams

As we traverse our path this week and have the opportunity to observe others, we can learn from others and allow others to assist us without comparing their lives to ours. Stop looking at other people who seem to live “the good life” and live your own good life. Commit to your improvement, and let it be you.

Each day, people are living their dreams. Wealth is created. Families form and create tremendous relationships. Individuals get healthier day by day. Life-long learners grow intellectually and improve their lives daily. Let it be you!

The fact is, living the life of your dreams is possible. People prove that every day.

Have you ever looked at someone who has money and wished that it could be you? People think about getting wealthy all of the time, but only a small percentage actually does. But anyone actually can. Someone is going to start a business. Someone is going to make a great investment. Why not let it be you?

Someone is going to decide to improve their relationships. Someone is going to enjoy love with their family. Someone is going to schedule some meaningful time with their friends. Why not let it be you?

Someone is going to become a life-long learner. Someone is going to go back to school. Someone is going to set a goal to read a book each week for the next year. Why not let it be you?

Someone is going to make the decision to become healthy. Someone will run their first marathon. Someone will join an aerobics class. Someone will start eating better. Why not let it be you?

You get the point. Every day people are improving their lives. It is simply a matter of a decision being made. Let it be you! Make sure that you understand what your dreams are and why. Everything that we pursue has a price associated with it. For every decision we make, we are saying yes to one choice, which will automatically mean that we have to say no to other choices. In order to live your dreams, there is a process that must be followed. Drill down on the “why” of your dream, and it will soon be clear whether you are committed to it.

So how can you live your dreams? By following these very simple actions:

1. Commit to working on yourself.

Are you going to improve or stay the same? No matter what you have achieved, you are at a certain point right now. What you have achieved in the past is fine, but it doesn’t make a difference for the future. The decision about what you will become is made each day and every day. Each day someone is making the decision to better him or herself. Let it be you. Proverbs 23:12 tells us, “Commit yourself to instruction; listen carefully to words of knowledge.” So commit yourself to live your dreams.

2. Make a plan.

Once you have decided to become better in any area of life, you will need to have a plan. It doesn’t have to be a long, intricate plan. It can be simple. Save a dollar a day. Walk a mile a day. Read an article a day. That is a simple plan with achievable goals. Someone is going to develop a plan that will take them into the future of their dreams. Let it be you. God desires us to make plans that are congruent with our life purpose. Psalm 20:4 confirms this, “May he grant your heart’s desires and make all your plans succeed.”

3. Begin to act.

All of the great ideas, without action, become stale and useless. The key to turning dreams into reality is action. People who have great ideas are a dime a dozen. People who act on their dreams and ideas are the select few, but they are the ones who gain the wealth, health, and wisdom that is available. Someone will act today. Let it be you.

Stop comparing yourself to others who seem to live the good life, wishing that you were as well, and instead begin to commit to your improvement, develop a plan, and act on it. Someone is going to. Let it be you!

Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians 6:4, “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.”

Along our trek this week, we learned how important it is not to compare ourselves and our dreams to others. We need to commit, plan, and act so that we can live our dreams each day. As we hike our trail next week, we will learn “7 Steps That Detroy Bad Habits.” In addition to our weekly Wisdom Notes, encourage your friends and family to also join us on our daily podcast Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

7 Activities to Integrate Into Your Life

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Within our Wisdom Note today, let us consider the various activities that make up each day, if you are like me, you feel that there is just no way to add anything else to an already overflowing schedule. My question to you is “Are the activities you are involved in for this season of life congruent with your life purpose and objectives? Are these activities moving you closer to or farther away from your destination in life?” These are hard choices that you will have to make, and you will need to learn how to say no to the good activities so you can say yes to the best activities.

There are some universal activities or habits, though, that all of us should integrate into our lives to ensure that we are moving toward a life that is both rich and satisfying.

Consider replacing some of your less productive activities/habits with ones that have better benefits. This will allow you to create and live your legacy each day. Here are the activities/habits that I recommend.

1. Exercise

Working out is good for the body, mind, and soul. According to various studies, people who exercise 30 minutes a day, five times a week, enjoy better overall brain health, including uplifted mood, reduced stress, increased creativity, and clearer thinking. Exercise is one of the best activities you can be involved in to stay alert and alive. For me, the best time to exercise is early morning. I set aside about 75 minutes each morning for this activity. I do include listening to devotional materials, podcasts, and audiobooks into exercising to maximize the use of my time.

2. Hobbies

Have you ever noticed that some of the most productive and successful people also lead rather interesting lifestyles in addition to their careers? That comes largely from the personal pastimes they choose to enjoy. Hobbies are a good outlet for stress and an excellent source of creativity. Although I really do love work, I also enjoy renovating The Big House and taking care of the grounds. These are times of relaxing and thinking for me.

3. Learning

Success in all areas of life means fostering a love of learning. If you want to inspire a love of learning inside yourself, learn something new. With access to virtually unlimited resources through the internet, you are able to learn anything that you choose. Most people learn something that will be useful to them in their careers, but don’t limit yourself…a universe of learning is available at your fingertips. One study shows that a strong atmosphere of learning new things can help increase personal and business productivity by 37 percent. With online tutorials, web-based informational courses, and apps that offer assistance with just a few taps, you don’t have an excuse not to learn something new.

4. Meditation

Even if you do not consider yourself a person of faith, there are many ways to practice meditation. For me, meditation is praying and reading of Scripture, but for you, it may be something else. These practices can be incorporated into yoga, martial arts, and other practices for calming the mind. Meditation can help increase relaxation, improve productivity, facilitate creativity, and maintain your general overall well-being. It could simply mean sitting in stillness for 20 minutes twice a day, or leaning back in your chair, staring up at the ceiling, and forgetting the world for 10 minutes.

5. Service

If you’re losing sight of perspective and what matters to you most, take an opportunity to serve others, especially the less fortunate. Giving back to your community helps you think about things besides a pursuit of success. This will enable you to evaluate life from a different perspective. It is one of the best ways to put your life into perspective and reduce the stress that comes from constantly focusing on your own problems. It is even proven to be one of the most effective ways to overcome depression.

6. Reading

This is somewhat tied to point three on learning, but it can also be a way of relaxing and meditating. The best way to stay up to date with activities and information is to read. Whether you’re keeping up on the latest news, studying a business-oriented self-help book, or reading the biography of a successful person you admire, reading can help boost your creativity, improve your thought processes at work or home, and enable you to de-stress after a long day.

7. Family

Take a break every now and then to devote your entire attention to those you love most. For just a few hours a week, stop thinking about the things that happen at work or other activities, and enjoy what’s going on at home and with your family. Healthy, happy, and successful people understand that taking a break with their loved ones keeps them sane as they hike up the mountain of life toward their life purposes and objectives. Your family should be the most important aspect of life’s trek because they are the ones that you will ultimately have the most impact on.

Many of us, including myself, don’t take enough time to enjoy what God has so richly blessed us with. I am reminded of this in these verses:

2 Timothy 2:6 – And hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labor.

Ecclesiastes 3:13 – And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

Within our Wisdom Note today, we located the 7-mile markers or activities that we should all incorporate into our lives. Next we will hike the trail that will teach us the 9 life lessons we can learn from the mountains. So, encourage your friends and family to join us, and make it a habit to listen to our five days a week podcast.