Blog

Leaving a legacy is so much more than tangible items or money for the future. Leaving a legacy is about passing on values and vision to the next generation and beyond. A legacy is as much about the future as it is what you are doing in this life now to build and shape that legacy. How often do we think about legacy when we are making everyday decisions? Whether its children watching us, coworkers observing our moves, the community keeping tabs, or family learning from our habits – we’re shaping our legacy every day. The small choices matter as much as the big ones. Values are as much caught as they are taught.

Think about building a culture of honor. When we are building for the future, whether it is a business, a family or a community; we are building with much more in mind than just ourselves. By thinking this way, we are stretched outside of our own 4 walls and start to ponder what others may need. For legacy to thrive, the foundation generation has to keep the next generation in mind – honoring their fresh outlook and their new ways of doing things. It requires trusting that they’ll learn from their mistakes just as we did, and giving them the space to make those mistakes. They will need support and guidance without hovering. At some point, we need to let go of the baton. Too often it feels like we are leaving a baby with a babysitter, when in reality we’re releasing our sense of ownership and passing the reins to those who have hopefully grasped the heart and soul of what we’ve built.

The generation coming up must also embrace this culture of honor if it is to truly work. Honoring the past generation means recognizing their labor, their pioneering spirit, and the foundation they’ve already laid – and then choosing to build upon it. When building a home, the foundation is the most essential part. It is not something to be “re done,” and it would even be unwise to try. In the same way that reinventing the wheel is pointless, trying to reinvent the pioneering work that has already been done is a waste. The foundation exists so the next layers can rise.