Dylan Stewart Columnist
Legacy is a complicated concept, but one that every man should sit with. Ponder. Explore. Discover.
Your legacy will happen. That much is assured. Whether you think about it or not, define it or not, whether you want it to exist or not, your legacy will one day be written in stone.
But you still have time. While you still live, while you still breathe you can plan it. Design it. Make it a legacy of which you can be proud.
When you see it from the 6-mile-high perspective, those that consciously plan and design their legacy, and those who come from a lineage of planners and designers are the ones who will really succeed in the biggest scale of the word.
But don’t forget that legacy is not one-sided. It is not merely what you will leave behind. Legacy is also what was given to you to carry forward.
You are your father’s legacy, your grandfather’s legacy, your great grandfather’s legacy. All of these men, whether they planned their legacy, designed it carefully, manifested it consciously, or just accidentally fell into it, all these men are your legacy. And you are theirs.
When you see it from the 6-mile high perspective, those who consciously plan and design their legacy, and those who come from a lineage of planners and designers are the ones who will really succeed in the biggest scale of the word. They are the giants, standing on the shoulders of giants.
In this world, we are not specks of dust. We are not irrelevant. We matter. Deeply. But only when we get out of ourselves, and see the true bigger picture.
Alone we are specks, together we are the world. One man cannot accomplish much in his lifespan, one man cannot move mountains, but together … with a legacy that moves both forward and backwards, with people who are committed to making today better than yesterday and tomorrow better than today … together, we can do anything.
I look at the legacy of my father, a writer who showed me that I could follow an artist’s path. I look at the legacy of his father, a salesman who could sell ice to Eskimos, and I’m grateful for what they each brought to me. Determination, charisma, intelligence, intuition … and so much more. Their legacy is almost complete. Mine has just begun.
Taking those traits that they gave to me, along with all the other resources that they accumulated during their lives, I consciously create my own dreams. My own potential. My own legacy.
It is a legacy of love, risk, growth, and unflinching internal honesty.
My legacy includes the businesses I have started, as well as the traits I am passing on to my children: resourcefulness, creativity, resilience and passion. Lots of passion.
I will teach my children the importance of legacy, the value of what came before, and what comes after. And I will do what my father never did for me, show my children how to cultivate and create their own legacy. Through this simple action, my legacy and theirs, and the legacy of my forefathers, will carry on and carry forward, connecting my blood in both directions as far as the eye can see.
Or I can just sit back, and hope everything goes well … and that my legacy accidentally comes together at the last moment.
It’s my choice, and it’s yours as well. Will you respect your legacy and create it? Or just cross your fingers?