...to get things done of course.
But perhaps it's also a placeholder for something far more important. Maybe it's a way of keeping ourselves off the hook...for now. Our busy might very well be serving someone, which might be good enough. But, legacies aren't made from busy. They're made from showing up and doing the hard thing, over and over.
Time to get busy...just be sure it's on the right thing.
A five minute reflection exercise which will help keep us moving forward in our important, legacy building, work.
I’m proud of...
Starting these important things.
I’m even more proud of finishing these.
I’m proud of saying “no” to these things which would have gotten in the way.
And the finishing touch...
I’m not proud of this important work I never started.
Every day brings an opportunity to choose what we work on…choose wisely.
Let’s define important as something which should take precedence over everything else. Important work either preserves life (food, shelter, health, mental wellbeing, etc.) or fulfills purpose. Sometimes it accomplishes both. A distinguishing characteristic of important work is that it is defined by us…not by others.
Urgent work, which often gets in the way of important work, is what gets most of our attention. It’s the firehose of constant inbound interruptions, deadlines, compelling projects and tasks which must be done now. While urgent is usually seen as an outside force, it is ultimately controlled by us. We can choose (not without consequence) whether to make it urgent for us.
Making it even more confusing…what is urgent might also be important. But, what Is important might not be urgent at all. The question is whether the urgent helps propel or support the change we seek to make. Does it help us achieve our legacy. If not, it’s not important, and we should recognize and prioritize it as such. It should take a back seat to doing the more meaningful, legacy work we have determined to be important.
Caring enough to regularly show up to do important work and to prioritize it ahead of urgent is a tall order. The only thing stopping us from doing this is…you guessed it, ourselves. But once we care enough to define what’s truly important, and then commit to it, the rest is merely noise…noise we create for ourselves to keep us from actually doing the work we’re called to do. What we do with the noise, the distractions, is one of the most important, and human, acts we get to do. And most of us are fortunate enough to have the slack to rearrange our priorities. Too often though, we just choose not to. What a shame.
Choose wisely.
A legacy isn’t a choice…it’s a result. It’s the culmination of choices and actions over time. You're going to have one. But which legacy is completely up to you. And every moment counts. Choose wisely.
if doing what you're doing isn't worth talking about, doesn't inspire anyone...doesn't leave a legacy? How sad if you're just trudging along, waiting for that lucky break.
So don't wait…
At a minimum, your journey will be more interesting.
Sitting here drinking an authentic Mexican Coca Cola (yes, there is a difference) while peering over the top of my Macbook Air at the ocean (I have my priorities)...I came across this little riff from David Wolanski
I've been working on making changes myself so that mine isn't a colorless cubicle shaped stew pot. Part of it is preparing mentally, and part of it is thinking about how to use the tools at hand to shape something that is my own version of heaven on earth. Bring beauty and encouragement to others. Give of my time talent and treasure to make a heaven here on earth and leave a legacy behind that outlives my time this side of the veil.
Amen...and don't settle for anything less.
I like simplicity. And, with regard to work, I think it can be boiled down to this...
You're either involved with something that's meaningful and has the power to make a difference in people's lives...something likely to leave a legacy. Or you're doing just enough to get by and manufacturing lies to cover up mediocrity.