Do You Have a Legacy?

Written by Paul Schmitz on Nov 9, 2008 9:21 am

Read More: Discipline | Mindset | Personal Development

Here's something I've been pondering about lately, when thinking about my own life. I was going to do this in a podcast, but I decided not to. This doesn't have to do with only network marketing, but in life in general. I'm writing this in my blog, because I think this could help out a lot of other people as well.

I've written this question on some other group forums I'm on, but I'm blogging about this if, for no other reason, than to get it out of my head. When you write something down, talk about it, or some how effectivly communicate a thought to someone, it's like it releases a presure inside. I know you can relate.

Anyway, what I wanted to write about is this: What kind of legacy are you setting up for your name?

Merriam-Webster Online defines "legacy" as: 1 : a gift by will especially of money or other personal property : bequest 2 : something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past

The second definition is what I would like to focus on. When I looked at that I thought "what does that have to do with what I know to be a legacy"? When I think of the word "legacy", I think of what my name will mean to my family 5 generations from now. When someone says "Paul Schmitz," what will they think about? Will my name be associated with failure or success? Knowledge or ignorance? Wisdom or foolishness? A family man or a waste of space?

This is what my kinsmen will receive when I die: my last name and the legacy attached to it.

Abraham Lincoln created a legacy for his family. Bill Graham is creating a legacy for his family Arthur Ashe created a legacy for his family. Genghis Khan created a legacy for his family (which is supposedly 8% of the Asian population).

These things may not matter to a lot of people, but they matter to you. Do you want my future kin to have to go through what you may be going through right now: not having a real leader in either side of your family, nor someone who's a true success in life or business.

I want to set up a legacy for my children, grand children, and great-grand children, where I can be an example long after I'm off this earth. To us, when we pass away, that's it...but what about all the others? Are they going to clean up the mess I made or they going to be able to reap the seed I sowed in my children's lives?

Look at this in the Network Marketing arena. MLMs have gotten a bad rap since, the majority of the people in it are out only for themselves. How much money it can make them, and screw everyone else! (Which ticks me off to no end) These people will FAIL!!!! But if you look closely, it's those who are extraordiarily successful who have taught others to excel. It's those people who put relationships and integrity before the bottom line, who actually create a greater end.

What the problem is with us, in any walk of life, is we have the mindset that "the ends justifies the means." That's the game AIG, Enron, and Lehman Bros. played. Those companies, and their members, will have to deal a legacy filled with compromise and failure. When the right thing is done in excellence, only then will the end be maximized. Until that time, you have only mediocrity.

So is your ends justifying your means? If so, how will that effect the people in your family, who you'll never meet? What kind of legacy are you setting up for your kin because, whether you like it or not, you're legacy is being set up right now. So what will Billy tell your great-grand children what their grandparent was like?

Continue to have a prosperous weekend,

Servant,

-Paul S.