So unless you’ve been living under a rock on Mars I’m sure you’ve seen or heard about the live action version of The Lion King. Now as I’m recording this, I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I definitely plan to; however, I have listened to some of the amazing soundtrack that Beyonce created and it is a beautiful masterpiece. The visuals are amazing as well. Now I haven’t listened to all of the songs yet, but there is one song that has really stuck out to me and that song is called Bigger. In it she talks about living for something bigger and the importance of legacy, and that is exactly what I want to talk about today…your legacy. Have you considered what your legacy is? Have you thought about the impact that you are having on this world and the people around you? Well today we are going to discuss the importance of your legacy and I hope to inspire you to go bigger.
So if you look up the word legacy you’ll see a few definitions, but I want to focus on the one that defines legacy as a gift that is handed down, endowed or conveyed from one person to another. Most people think about this when someone passes away and in their will they breakdown who gets what and who doesn’t, lol. But legacy is bigger than a will. It’s more than passing money down from one person to another. Legacy is also about impact and lessons learned. It’s about helping those around you go further than you’ve been able to go. It’s about teaching others and helping them learn how to soar even further. When you make life decisions and consider important matters you should always consider your legacy. Consider the impact what you are doing will have. Consider how it will help your loved ones, your community, and the generations to come. I talked about this briefly during my interview with Dr. Laquanda Johnson in episode 30. She mentioned that a major push for her to complete her phd and become a professor was because she considered her legacy and what her position and path would do for her children and those in her community. Even though it was hard the thought of her legacy kept her on track to change the trajectory of her family’s life.
So I’ll ask you…what does your legacy look like? What are you doing that will be passed from you to someone else. I know there are many of you with ideas and plans that are bigger than what you are currently doing, but your hesitant and afraid to try it. So let me give you one more good reason to go for it…and that’s your legacy. I want you to think about how achieving that dream will change the trajectory of your life and those connected with you. Legacy is apart of the reason why I started my own business. I want to have something that I can pass to my children if they want it. Legacy is also why I do this podcast. This information and knowledge will be passed down to my children and my children’s children, and so on. They will be able to hear my voice and know what kind of woman I was and what I stood for and hopefully that will inspire them to go bigger as well…even after I’m dead on gone.
Your legacy is precious. It is important. And it is yours to create. Now there are 4 things I want to make sure you know and understand about your legacy that I’m going to discuss. And hopefully these points will help you become even more passionate about creating a legacy you’ll be proud of.
The first thing I want you to know about a legacy is that it is not just for people who have children. I said it earlier that I’m doing a lot of things in my life for my children…but understand, that’s MY life. Not everyone has children, and it’s just fine. They still have a legacy to build. Let’s use Oprah as an example. Her legacy, I believe, will be felt for centuries to come, but she didn’t build this legacy for her children, because she doesn’t have any. Her legacy effects her community, it effects women, it impacts children who don’t even live in this country. You can find a cause that you want to impact and THAT can be your legacy. So don’t let the thought of “oh I don’t have children to pass this down to” stop you from going big and creating a legacy for yourself. There are plenty of people who need you to pass down your talents, your knowledge, your skills, your creation, your resources. So go build your legacy…kids or no kids.
The next thing I need for you to know about legacy is that your legacy is not just your career. For some reason people believe that their legacy must be tied up in what they do for a living and that is just not true. This way of thinking can have people feeling hopeless and like they don’t have much to offer. If you are working a job, let’s say a 9-5 only for income, not for impact, that is ok. There are so many others ways to have an impact on the world. You can have an impact by raising our kids to be great people. You have no idea what amazing things you children may do when they grow up so put the time in to raise them with love and care. That can be your legacy. Your legacy can be your community work. The local baseball coach is a legend. Coaching is not his job-he works at a plant-but his legacy will be the positive impact he had on every child that came in contact with him. Your legacy may begin in your church. My church continues to honor people who have been deceased for years and years because of the impact they had on the community. Look at your day to day life and see what you can do to help build a legacy with the people you touch everyday. Creating a legacy doesn’t have to be this drastic thing like starting a business or creating a foundation. Relationships creates legacies. There are so many ways to create your legacy. Don’t pigeon hole yourself into thinking that your legacy has to be your job, because jobs can come and go, but your impact can last a lifetime.
The third things I want you to understand about your legacy is that it is never to late to create one. It’s easy to look around society and feel like you are behind or you’re running late to the success party. But you’re not late, you’re not behind, you’re right where you’re suppose to be. Even if you’ve never considered your legacy or making an impact, today can be your day. It’s not too late. You can choose today or take this week to determine what you want to be know for. What you want to be remembered as. You can start right now and still make a change. Again, legacy isn’t all about money and property so don’t think you need something extravagant in order to get started. So remember your not late…but please don’t continue to wait. Start now.
The last thing I want you to remember when creating your legacy is that life is bigger than you. Guys, sometimes we can get so caught up in ourselves. Our goals. Our money. Our success. Our job. What we want. That we forget that life is so much bigger. What is life if you have all the money in the world, but no positive impact. Your never help anyone. You never teach anyone. You never touch anyone’s life. It will all be in vain. So when you’re creating your goals, start to think about how what you are striving for will serve others. How will it help this world be better. Take time to think beyond your nose and see how you can impact your household, your neighborhood, your community, your city, your state, and so on.
Your legacy is important. It’s because of the legacy of other people in my family that I am where I am today. It is because of the work of people who came before us that we have the opportunities that we have now. So we have to keep this going. Don’t let the positive impact stop with us. Make an impact on those around you so that when you leave this world you will feel good about the footprint you left behind.
So I hope that you feel inspired to be the change that you want to see in the world. To know that you have the power to have an impact on others regardless of your circumstances. And to go bigger so that your legacy will be felt by generations to come.
So until next time stay encouraged and inspire someone else along the way.