3 Practical Ways to Leave Your Legacy When You’re Gone

Do you wish you could live forever, enjoy your life without a thought of dying? You can live a hundred years and more, fresh and sound – but, of course, in a different way – by being unforgettable.

By taking certain actions while we’re still alive, death would mean nothing other than two doors from which you pass through one and come out of the other. Your body won’t be physically available, though, everywhere your traces are found. You live in the hearts of people. How do you achieve that?

Below are the 3 practical ways you can leave your legacy when you’re gone:

1. Give more than you receive

Affecting the lives of people around you is a sure way to be unforgettable. When you make people happy by being responsible and responsive to them and their needs, you’re creating a timeless life for yourself.

Rather than turn on your heels anytime a friend asks a favour of you, why not show at least you care, even if you cannot render that assistant at that moment. Sometimes, only a little smile is worth more than gold you give as gifts. And you don’t have to be rich or influential to make an impact, you just have to develop a sense of giving. Often times, we give out what we value most to people not knowing that we’ve received manifolds in return.

Life is give and take. When you stretch a hand of goodness to others, tens of thousands of such hands will stretch towards you too. Even if you don’t live to receive it, your family one day will. To make an impact is indeed to live.

“When you love people and have the desire to make a profound, positive impact on the world, then will you have accomplished the meaning to live.” – Sasha Azevedo

2. Write a book

Books, the most powerful tool for positive change, can make you eternal. As you still read Shakespeare and Donne and Keats, even though they are long gone, so will you forever remain fresh and alive on the lips of people whom your ideas through books have impacted.

So, would you like to live forever? Write a book. Memories can fade away, but memories of authors remain indelible in the minds of their readers. Having your name imprinted on a book as the author can make you live longer than your time.

In classrooms, at intellectual workshops and in many places you could never have been to, your name is being pronounced, your ideas being discussed and your impact being felt by people who never met you but learned about you through your book. That’s the power of writing.

3. Teach what you know

No, I don’t mean you should be a professional teacher to do this. The truth is, believe it or not, you’re a teacher. It’s just that we don’t know that somehow somewhere people are watching our steps. They’re following our examples. We just might not realise it, but it’s happening.

For instance, has anyone ever opened up to you about how you inspired him or her? Told you of how following your steps has helped them achieve something? If that happens to you, congrats! You’re on your way to becoming timeless. This is because even when you are no more, people remember you for good things.

Let’s now take a look at the real deal – teaching people what you know. Ask teachers to tell you the amazing things about teaching, and you’d probably hear something like, you receive just as much as (or even more than) you give. And that is the plain truth. When we teach others what we know, we do not only help them grow, we’ve also helped boost our own confidence and printed our names in their hearts.

In the end, what matters isn’t why we lived, what matters most is how we lived. But between living and leaving this wonderful world, a thin line exists – impact. Impact lives now as you live, so that when you eventually leave, rest assured that your memories live on.

“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” – Audrey Hepburn

How are you trying to impact the world? Leave your thoughts below!