139: A Slight Adjustment to How I View My Legacy

I'm rethinking my approach to legacy. Not a major overhaul rather a slight adjustment to the timing relative to how I perceive it's value.

I'll let Jim Collins explain. Collins' latest book (as I'm writing this), What to Make of a Life features thorough research that included some thought-provoking insights into legacy.

"What is so striking in the vast amount of materials we collected in this study is how little people spoke or wrote about 'legacy' or how they wanted to be remembered after they were gone. Yes, many of them made a lasting impact on the world they touched, but they did so by honoring the responsibilities they chose, by doing the work that lay in front of them. Once life if done, the encodings will be gone, so best make use of them while there's still time on the clock."1

By "encodings," Collins is referring to the inner drive or unique skills a person possesses and that they utilize throughout their lives to live, love, and...of course, contribute to their legacy.

What altered my thinking in Collins' brief comment on legacy is the compelling idea that legacy is here and now. It's, as he states, "...doing the work that lay in front of (you)...while there's still time on the clock."2

I've most often considered my legacy as mattering the most when I'm gone. And, I certainly cling to that thought. But my posthumous legacy cannot be delayed at the expense of what I'm doing in the present.

Your aging journey, especially as it intersects the retirement years, provides you the opportunity to accomplish those projects you've delayed until now. Even so, it's easy to postpone them, giving into the feeling that you've earned a rest.

But rest too long and the projects could require more heavy-lifting than they do at the moment. Take action while the ideas and details (whatever they are) are fresh.

Your life - as you're living it - is the ultimate legacy project so make the most of the moment you're in, the values you hold, and the memories you're making.

I was lunching with a friend recently and he confessed that in retirement it's easy to sit around, scroll through media, and keep the daily newsfeed playing in the background. All the while, he's had a legacy project on the back-burner that he's compelled to get to work on.

I had nothing but encouragement for him. And if you find yourself in a similar position - retired or not - this is your moment while the "clock's running" to get rolling on your legacy project and enjoy it now rather than leaving it for later.

Create something relevant

By relevance I'm implying two things.

Create something relevant to your skills, expertise, research, or what you simply enjoy.

Could be

• a hobby,
• a special interest like painting, drawing, photography, writing, music, crafting, or something media related (YouTube, etc), or
• a skill you've acquired and honed through the years such as publishing, speaking, teaching, mentoring, or coaching.

A second point about relevance:

Create something relevant to life around you.

• What are people struggling with?
• What do people desire to know?
• What is a need you are equipped to meet?

The cool thing about relevance is it's likely different for each of us. You have something unique to use and something unique to contribute.

Create something rewarding

I love writing. It's my career of choice but it's also a craft I find incredibly rewarding.

Find something that while it requires work and effort, it doesn't feel like work while you're doing it. The reward - to you - is the opportunity to expend your effort in the creation process. The reward - to others - is the return on your investment of time and energy in creating something that helps or is useful to someone.

• What gives you a sense of pride or accomplishment when you complete it?
• How excited do you get when you think about the next opportunity to work on it?

Follow the bread crumbs as you answer those questions. A legacy project could be waiting for you to start, continue working on, or complete.

Create something that will be remembered

When all's said and done, what's been said and done? Let that question drive you to the creation of something memorable.

I've done things and so have you that will be remembered by those who know me. Consider those memories as part of your mark on this world.

As Collins earlier reminds us, the key is not spending your time thinking about the mark you'll leave when you're gone as much as you must take action while you're here - living, breathing...and oh, yeah, creating.

• Think eternal impact while choosing your words and actions in the here-and-now.
• Make memories not memorials. It's the small, daily, routine acts of love and creation that people around you value more than the major, magnificent, or overthought stuff.
• Invest in the future by sharing your wisdom more than you share your opinions.

Your legacy will outlast you but you must live it out in the present moment.

• Stay relevant
• Be rewarded
• Make memories

Press on...

Eddie

Sources:

1-Jim Collins, What to Make of a Life, p289.

2-Ibid.