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What will be your life legacy? How can you stay motivated to build a great legacy? One man used a large picture frame. The left side had a picture of the hospital where he was born and on the right side was a picture of the cemetery where he would be buried. In the center was a big question mark.
CC Image courtesy of Eric Danley on Flickr
The bookend photographs indicated his beginning and end. The center question mark was a reminder to fill the time in between with significance.
Are we filling the question mark of our time on earth with significance? I fear that many are not.
There are four kinds of people in the world. Most people probably fit into the first three categories. Which category do you fit into?
1. Survival Oriented
This kind of person wonders if they will ever make it, if they will survive, if they can keep the doors open.
Some are forced by circumstances to be survival oriented. But others are that way by choice.
They just want to “get by.”
People with a survival focus tend to be fearful, unwilling to advance and are unfulfilled.
2. Status Quo Oriented
These people are willing to just drift as effortlessly as possible through life. As long as they are comfortable, they don’t seem to care if they make a difference. They are more concerned about not rocking the boat by doing anything challenging.
They just want to “get along.”
This outlook is self-centered, bland and unsatisfying.
3. Success Oriented
These people focus on how big they can make themselves appear – with a grander house, more money, better vacations, a nicer car, bigger “toys” and so on. They strive to look like they’re doing well.
These people wonder, “How successful looking can I appear?”
They just want to “be noticed.”
This is a more positive outlook than the first two since it is not as fearful or closed. However, it is also self-focused and ultimately unrewarding.
4. Significance Oriented
This type of person wonders how they can make a difference that will last. They ask what difference their efforts will have fifty or a hundred years from now.
They want to “leave a legacy.”
Their focus is centered on others. This is a life lived on purpose.
Significance oriented people experience long-term satisfaction in life. Even when their personal life is difficult, they have an abiding sense of accomplishment knowing they have made a difference for others.
In The Greatest Generation, journalist Tom Brokaw wrote; “To make a buck is comparatively easy, the point is: to make a difference.”
This is the lifestyle of Jesus who said about Himself, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45 ESV)
May you live a life of genuine significance and leave behind a wonderful legacy, especially for the ones you love the most.
How can you leave a great legacy? I give a ton of help in my eBook called Don’t Miss Your Life. You can get it for free when you sign up to receive my updates via email.