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STEVE MANNING
Your 500-Year Legacy
DaVinci has it, Michelangelo, Isaac Newton, Joan of Arc,
Christopher Columbus, too.
Just about all of the founding religious icons, Shakespeare.
Some folks are almost guaranteed to have it eventually.
Folks like Mozart, Beethoven, Gandhi, Darwin, and a
bunch more.
It’s a 500 year legacy. A recognition of their lives 500
years after they walked the earth. A testament to
achievement, contribution and recognition by humanity.
The impetus for this article came about when someone
asked me, “what will be your legacy in 500 years?” What
will you be remembered for? Or will you, like billions of
others, not be remembered at all?
The idea was made even more poignant when I recalled
a line I use with my students to encourage them to write
their life story. I ask them to write down the first names,
that’s all just the first names, of their eight great grand-
parents. The first names of eight people, significant to you,
who walked this earth 100 years ago. In some cases,
they were around 50 years ago.
I’ve yet to encounter anyone who can give me all eight.
And frequently people can’t even give me one.
So where will you be in the minds of people 100 years
from now? And what will be your legacy in the year 2506.
By the way, in 1506 the year 2006 was just as impossibly
far away. But it arrived, didn’t it.
After looking at hundreds of people who had a 500 year
legacy, some things became clear: it is possible, it will
happen for many, you don’t have to be either genius or
prodigy, your past has little to do with it, you can be a
simple truck driver or house cleaner and there are steps
you can take to make it happen.
Focus on doing the one thing you love the most. This is
something you’d do even if you were never paid for it.
Let’s be outrageous and say you love making apple pies.
Don’t worry about money. The money will take care
of itself.
Learn everything you can about your love. The history,
the future, the problems, the thrills. You become as much
of an apple-pie expert as you can. You love doing this
because you love making apple pies.
Get your apple pies noticed. Make them for presidents,
premiers and prime ministers. Any significant group that
has a meeting should be treated to your apple pie. (If
you’re an artist, the walls of the meeting room should
hang your art.) Today, we call it publicity, but throughout
history it was just getting your work noticed.
Spread this accumulated knowledge in every way
you can. Teach, talk, travel, trade. Not only do you
have to get your message out, but you’ve got to show
people why your message is important for them to have.
Your message becomes metaphor. The apple pie becomes
symbolic of a life style, a mindset, a way of thinking and
behaving, providing insights for people so they can have
a better life and a better future.
And make sure you write your books. The books you write
will give your efforts immortality. They’ll last longer than you,
they’ll spread faster than you and they’ll provide the spark
that will ignite your 500-year legacy.
©2006 STEVE MANNING |
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