How to create a legacy

I’m 51. Not old. Not young.

I know people in their seventies who are as sharp and healthy as they ever were.

I also know people born around the same time as me who didn’t reach their fifties, or even forties.

(Hell, a couple of university friends didn’t even see their thirties.)

I don’t say this to depress you. Hopefully the opposite.

After all, if you’re reading this email it means you still have a seat at life’s roulette wheel.

But whatever age you are, and however old you feel, there’s a point when your thoughts turn to legacy and the question:

When you stop doing whatever you do (whether by choice or circumstance) what will you leave behind?

Legacy is multi-faceted but I’m particularly interested in this:

What’s your lasting contribution from your professional work or area of expertise?

Because I’ve noticed that people whose work endures create a method, framework or maybe just one big idea they allow to take the spotlight.

They let it become bigger than themselves.

David Allen created the productivity system Getting Things Done.

Stephen Covey popularised the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Dale Carnegie died in 1955 but he’s still helping new readers to win friends and influence people.

So, what about you?

Yes, I’m a course guy but I’m not saying that sticking a course up on Teachable and giving it a fancy name like “The Phoenix Framework” is going to create a meaningful and lasting legacy.

I am saying that if you don’t actively work on your “signature” method, your chance of leaving a lasting professional legacy is seriously impaired.

(Though it would be downright irresponsible of me to not mention that developing a course is a great way of honing your method. 😉)

But whether you create a course, or a book, or just a signature talk that shares your unique take on your topic, you owe it to yourself (and your legacy) to do something.

See you soon,

Glen