Planning Your Legacy: Transforming Aspirations into Actionable Steps
5min
Before we start, NO! Planning your legacy is not the same as planning your funeral.
I say this because ‘your legacy’ can be confronting, when I talk with people in their first few life coaching sessions or even leadership sessions many say “Well I have plenty of time, I’m not really worrying about my funeral right now”.
But that’s not the point, you aren’t focusing on death when you are planning your legacy. Here’s why.
How you live your life now is planning your legacy
When I talk about legacy, what I am focused on is living a certain way that when you are close to your death, you feel fulfilled with what you have created. This is why your legacy is important and waiting until you are about to retire to figure out what your legacy is, well that’s a slippery slope because you just never know the time you have left.
You never know when your legacy is complete and the final date that is set in stone.
Go from big questions to purposeful actions
If this indeed fits, then you need to start planning but before the planning, it’s important to continue to reflect and observe life in a structured way. You can't create the right plan without the right information and well, you need the right information for planning your legacy.
Here are a number of questions that I ask my life coaching clients in relation to their legacy. I ask them these questions so we have a better understanding of the north star we are heading towards. As yourself now:
If your life was to end tomorrow, what would your legacy be?
Are you satisfied with that picture?
What needs to change?
What would the most important people in your life say about you at your funeral?
Do you wish they would say something different?
If the day had a theme, what would you like it to be?
What would they say makes you incredible and is very much who you are?
How are you holding yourself back from creating the legacy you want?
What can you do tomorrow to make a shift?
There is another question I ask life coaching clients about when discussing their legacy and it’s a massive part of our work together, it is Will your aspirational statement create the fulfilling life you seek?
S is for Strategies
It start (and ends) with your aspirational statement
Your aspirational statement is a statement for each day that gives you a direction to head in, when you wake up in the morning you say the statement and you know what’s important to achieve that day or be proud of your actions trying to get there.
If planning your legacy had a first step it would be having a clear aspirational statement. Read about unlocking your life’s potential and how to write your aspirational statement here.
From good to great: transforming your legacy
If I said the below is your legacy, what they said about you when you were gone. How would you feel?
“He was a great guy, achieved many things but never took the time to connect with his family, was always busy, never present…”
How would you feel?
What about: “She was a great mother, but she always sacrificed herself for everyone, she also took the easy road and just said yes, she had so much more to achieve that I know she deeply cared about.”
How would you feel?
Or lastly: “Those last few years were incredible… they finally let go of fear, let go of worrying about others and their opinions and took a chance.”
When you read that, what comes to mind?
Are you living your life on someone else's terms?
When planning your legacy, what changes need to be made now?!
All good men and women must take responsibility to create legacies that will take the next generation to a level we could only imagine.
— Jim Rohn
Embracing habit formation
At this stage you might realise your legacy currently is not what you want.
You have reflected and observed life and answered the questions.
An aspirational statement has been formed.
Now a deeper level of planning is required. Planning your legacy requires you to look at the habits you need to have in life with frequency, to bring the legacy into existence.
YOUR legacy of choice, finally one to be proud of.
Reflect on the words you wrote, reflect on what you think people will say, reflect on what really matters. Be clear on the destination you want to get to with your legacy, now write down 5 or more habits that can be created and implemented into your life that allows you to not only plan your legacy but live it.
The below are examples how habits could be broken down further:
Goal based – habits that will enable you to donate money to a charity.
Identity based – habits that will enable you to be a passionate and present person.
Linchpin – one habit that is non-negotiable and will be done each day to lead you towards your aspirational statement and legacy.
Planning your legacy is the easy part. Trust my experience, when it comes to the plan needing action, it’ll require your passion and commitment but you know it….
Life is far too long not to do something meaningful with it.
But it’s far too short to let another day go to waste.
Your life.
Your legacy.
Something to be proud of.
If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do something worth writing
— Benjamin Franklin
Ready to move past the roadblock in your life?
Ready to create the most amazing life possible with aspirational thoughts and purposeful actions?
Check out my coaching programs and choose the one that will enable your legacy to come into existence! They all come with proven results.
Not sold? Check out my 60+ 5* clients’ reviews and book a free exploratory call today.
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