Legacy.
How many British Prime Ministers can you name? (Clue there’s been 55)
How about US Presidents? (Clue there’s been 45)
What about leaders of Russia, China, Australia, New Zealand?
In most cases their tenure is quite short. Having achieved the pinnacle position of authority in their respective countries, they don’t last long and then are mostly forgotten.
The same fate applies to many fields:
How many Nobel Peace Prize winners can you name?
What about scientists – can you recall more than a dozen and what they achieved?
And when it comes to a list of 12, that’s the number of men who have walked on the moon – most people can only recall two of them, how about you?
Does this mean that the pursuit of a worthwhile legacy is futile? Can one leave an inheritance, (other than personal wealth)?
Stephen R. Covey’s follow up to ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’, is titled ‘The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness’.
It can be summarised as “Find your voice and inspire others to find theirs.”
Whenever I ask new members of Property Academy, “Who has inspired you”, they nearly always start by citing a parent, teacher or colleague.
This tells me that whilst very few of us will be widely remembered for centuries to come, we still have the ability to make a positive difference, and can inspire people who in turn do likewise, and so on.
I’m reminded of a quote attributed to dozens, (Maya Angelou, Frank Patterson Jr., Carl Buechner to name just three), which I’ve amended as well:
“They may forget what you said, they may forget what you did, but they will always remember the way you made them feel.”
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