Defining our personal legacy requires taking personal inventory of who you are and what you desire to create. How do we want to live and what do we want to leave that will continue on for the next generations? A legacy is created over time and survives your physical presence leaving a lasting positive impact on others. It is your unique contribution to this world that continues on, beyond your time on this earth.
Meet Jean Latham
As a passionate researcher of all facets of lifestyle for anyone navigating the 2nd half of life Jean provides life changing content on where & how we live, work and play.
Her diverse background from social worker to sales has provided her with an exceptional education in the people industry.
As the CEO, creator and strategist of the weekly real and informative A New Golden Age Podcast she is relentless in informing her listeners on the most current trends from travel, fitness & wellness, food/drink, money and career, family, culture & community, tech and more!
In this episode:
As life begins to return to some level of the “new normal” we all have had time to evaluate what our lives look like or even better yet, what do we want them to look like? What are truly our priorities and the things of most importance? How do we want to live and what do we want to leave that will continue on for the next generations?
A legacy is created over time and survives your physical presence leaving a lasting positive impact on others. It is your unique contribution to this world that continues on, beyond your time on this earth.
The thought of leaving a legacy often does not occur until we enter midlife and may look very different for many of us. For most of us, this recent cataclysmic Covid-19 has turned our lives upside down and forced us to take a long, hard look at many aspects of our life. Everything that was normal to us became abnormal and the unexpected isolation gave us much time for self reflection.
For some, going to work made you fearful you may be exposed to illness and concerned not only for your health but also worry you were exposing loved ones within your home. Some faced life and death daily in their jobs and some possibly lost family, friends or loved ones with no ability to properly mourn their deaths.
We lost businesses, jobs or were financially impacted dramatically and some of us still worry our financial livelihood is at risk. Some were not able to feed their children, grandchildren and elderly properly and the worry of keeping our homes became a real possibility.
All of these marked changes in our lives created a new view of our priorities and has changed our perspective on just how intertwined our work/life balance is connected. How quickly circumstances can change and divert any of us from the path we thought we were on. The magnitude and immensity of these life changing, impactful series of events all taking place in a short period of time, has given us all a reason to pause and think.
As I evaluated my life one of the things that became clear was the importance of leaving my legacy. But, first I had to define what did my legacy mean to me? What was it that I wanted to leave behind years after I was gone? What did I want to leave this world that would make a difference and would carry on to future generations?
Was it financial security for loved ones, mentoring, things, giving back to the community, philanthropy or making a cultural impact? Was it creating memories with my important people who I hold near and dear or traditions and rituals practiced in my family or faith?
Contemplating these questions required me to take an even deeper look inside. What would my legacy be? What steps had I taken to define and create a legacy? What was I reading, who was I surrounding myself with and what kind of work had I done to move my life in a more meaningful direction, Aa life that was bringing me joy, happiness and a sense of purpose?
While the future comes with much uncertainty what I know is, if we sit back and do nothing then certainly we are allowing our present and future to be decided for us and our purpose to be defined by others.
For many of us we don’t really begin to think about a legacy or perhaps philanthropy until we are older. Is philanthropy part of one’s legacy? Can anyone can be a philanthropist, regardless of status or net worth?
What is philanthropy? The definition includes donating your time, money, experience, skills or talent to help create a better world therefore, it seems to me that you can leave your legacy and be a philanthropist simultaneously.
What is your gift you want to leave behind and how do you begin to define what your legacy is? For all of us, it probably looks different.
We evolve in our middle ages somewhere between the 40-65 mark and turn in the direction of generativity (“making your mark” on the world by caring for others as well as creating and accomplishing things that make the world a better place and contribute to the next generation) or do we stagnate and simply live a lifestyle to meet our own personal needs? Only you can answer this and in order to determine the depth of your legacy, these questions can be helpful.
- What are the valuable gifts I am leaving or want to leave?
- Why is it meaningful to me? What is my driving force?
- Who will be the primary beneficiaries of what I am leaving? Is it my children, grandchildren, community or of global value?
- What am I doing to prepare & strategize to leave this legacy?
Defining your personal legacy requires taking personal inventory of who you are and what you desire to create. Assessing these key, simple principles of how you are living your life will help you define your legacy.
Love Your life. Love Where You Are. Love Who You Are.
Appreciate the gift of life. We can choose to live any way we want but if you are going to live, make it a great one? When we truly appreciate our lives and who we are, we will manage our actions and behavior better. Loving our lives allows us to set big goals to make the most of the limited time with the largest impact. Understanding who you are, what drives you, where you have come from and where you are going allows you to live fully.
Practice Gratitude.
Being grateful for all things in life, plays the most important part of moving forward in life. Developing the mindset of abundance and positivity will bring joy and good things to you. Practice daily gratitude and learn the fine art of appreciation for all things large and small in your life.
Be Passionate.
Be totally enthusiastic about your life. Get excited about something. When you project and feel happiness people are drawn to you. Do we choose to simply exist or is there something that makes you excited inside? We all have day to day obstacles in our life and you can choose to allow them to take you down or make you stronger.
Do Work That Makes You Happy?
Find your purpose. Take a deep dive into identifying your personal brand. Make a list of those things that you are good at and figure out how you can incorporate those skills to create a meaningful cause and sense of giving back and purpose.
Be Sure To Be You.
Show up as the real you and live your life according to your values. When you live life honestly and truthfully with who you are and you values align with your actions, your words will inspire others. Bring your best self to the table. Live and lead by example and help others achieve their goals.
Take Massive Action
In the words of Tony Robbins “Take Massive Action,” overcome your fears and believe you deserve success. Opportunity abounds in this lifetime, you just have to go after it. Once you determine your purpose(s), put your plan in place to accomplish those goals and take the action steps required to create the vision.
There are probably pieces of your legacy you already have in place and there are things you may want to still accomplish. No matter what your age, it is never too late to get started. Stop thinking about it and make your mark!
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