We all begin life at GO, and all roads lead to a final rendezvous. The difference is what we do en route as the paths chosen, actions taken, and a host of decisions made ultimately lead to a unique legacy.
It’s nonnegotiable: you will leave a legacy. The question then becomes… “What legacy will you leave?”
What we ALL really desire is to make a dent in the world, to make a contribution with lasting results-a contribution that actually changes our life and our legacy.
So, if you died today … what is your significant contribution to humanity, and what would your legacy be?
Before you answer those questions, I thought you’d find the following story to be of interest.
On April 13, 1888, a man named Alfred woke up early that morning in Paris. While eating breakfast, he began to read the newspaper and was astonished to discover his own obituary on page 3.
Naturally, it was a mistake, for in fact it was Alfred’s brother Ludwig who had died.
As a result of this error, Alfred was afforded a rare opportunity-a chance to see how he would be remembered. And he didn’t like what he
saw.
As David Zacks writes in An Underground Education:
“Alfred was shocked to see himself portrayed as the Merchant of Death, the man responsible for escalating the arms race. Even though he had made high-powered explosives much easier to use and was proud of how this power had been unleashed to mine precious minerals and to build roads, railways, and canals.”
The obituary portrayed him as a “monster” whose discoveries “had boosted the bloody art of war from bullets and bayonets to long-range explosives in less than 24 years.”
Stunned, but propelled into action, Alfred hatched a shrewd plan. Determined to change his current image and future legacy, he used his time and profits from the explosives to create an annual prize-for peace…The Nobel Prize
Today, few of us connect the creator of that prize to “the art of killing”. And that, my friend, is just what Alfred Nobel intended.
Again … if you died today, what would your legacy be?
How would you be described physically?
Would your contributions be significant and lasting?
Would anyone mention a specific habit or addiction in connection with your life?
Whether today, next month, or years from now, your legacy will one day be set in stone. What will we say you did? Who will we say you were? What difference will we celebrate that you made?
I created this Life Plan to show you how to think through the entire legacy process and encourage you to begin working on yours right away.
Your legacy is what you make it.
And the most important part of your life … begins now.
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