Eventually, there comes a time when you need to think about your legacy. This goes beyond simple estate planning. What do you want to leave behind? What’s the real impact you want to have on your loved ones? Knowing that can help you figure out what you want to do and focus on for the rest of your life. While you may begin moving into a stage where you’ll have more money and freedom than ever before since you’ve been diligent with your finances, there are ways to take advantage of that and use it to help with leaving a legacy that you can be proud of.
Important Questions To Ask Yourself
When you’re trying to build a lasting legacy, there are several important questions to ask yourself. Think about them seriously, and use them to help you identify what your priorities are.
How Do You Want To Be Remembered?
First off, how do you want to be remembered? As kind? Generous? A star in your field? All of the above? Better yet, how do you want to be remembered and by whom do you want to be remembered that way? It’s a seemingly simple question, but it can be tough to answer. Think about what you actually want to be remembered for, and who you want to do the remembering. For example, if you want your family to remember you as a loving and attentive parent, you may not care as much about being remembered as a diligent worker by your peers.
What’s Your Purpose?
Which brings me to my next point. What’s your purpose? It’s best to decide if you’re more career or family oriented. Figure out what you’re here to do and why – and that can help you figure out what your legacy will be.
What Are Your Best Skills Or Talents?
It’s useful to lean into what you’re naturally good at. If you have any skills or talents that can lend themselves to helping you build a lasting legacy, be sure to use them. Tons of people get caught up in day to day life and forget all the things they’re amazing at. Likewise, they can tend to forget what their passions are…
Do You Have Any Passions?
Following your passion isn’t always a good thing, but it can be. If you have something which you’re undeniably passionate about, you may want to consider how that would impact your legacy. Instead of being remembered for your career, perhaps you’d prefer to be remembered for something else you did in your free time!
What Sets You Apart?
At the end of the day, all these questions should help you identify what sets you apart from others and makes you unique. Don’t overcomplicate it, but do give them some consideration. If something jumps out at you immediately, that makes the process easier. However, if you need some time to think things over, don’t fret – most people don’t know what they want their legacy to be.
Become More Generous With Your Time
One great way to leave a lasting legacy is to become more generous with your time. When you help others, you’ll be astounded at the rewards that brings (both in a legacy and in your own personal fulfillment). Being generous with your time can be hard, but it’s worth it. Start carving time into your schedule that you can use to make the world a better place!
Mentor Others
Mentorship seems to be dying off, which is a real shame. Mentoring is invaluable to help the next generation into adulthood and all the responsibilities that come with it. If you really want to make an impact that affects another individual directly, take someone under your wing and become a mentor.
Volunteer
At some point in your life you’ve probably done a bit of volunteer work. Perhaps it was for school – a club activity or something to put on your college applications. Maybe your parents forced you to. You might’ve even chosen to do it on your own. Either way, I hope you’ve had experience with volunteering before and appreciate how rewarding it can be. Volunteering as an adult is one of the best and most enriching pastimes out there! The fact is that it’s rewarding and can leave a legacy where you’ve helped build up your community.
Become More Generous With Your Money
Another great way to leave a lasting legacy is to become more generous with your money – assuming you have that luxury. When you help organizations and non-profits through donations, you can help a lot of individuals too. Do some of your own research and find a cause that you believe in. A lot of us are a little overly frugal and stingy with our money, but it can be a great thing to give back!
Donate To Charity
Donating to a non-profit, like a charity, is a great way to start. You may be able to see a more direct affect that your money will have. On top of that, charities are usually for specific causes, so you know what your money will be helping.
Leave Some For Your Family
Another good option is for you to leave some money behind for your family. Obviously you don’t have to, but it may be a nice bonus that can help your kids once your gone. After all, they’ll no longer have you around to help out, so this may give them a bit of a layer of security.
Living On In Memories
Ultimately, whatever legacy you leave will live on in the memories of others. Do your best to have a positive impact on other people and you’re bound to leave a lasting legacy that you can be proud of. At the end of the day we all want to make the world a better place – so focusing on how you can do that may be the easiest path to build a good, long-lasting legacy.
Conclusion
Hopefully this gave you some ideas to help you figure out what sort of legacy you want to leave. If you have any thoughts, or tips of your own, be sure to let us know in the comments.
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