Your Career is Not Your Legacy

Your career is not your legacy; your legacy is the impact you have had on those around you. When you think of what you want to be remembered for, it likely isn’t the amount of sales you made, the number of new clients you brought in, or how much you increased the company’s yearly revenue. Though some of those might make honorable mentions, the more important thing that people will remember about you is the relationships you built with others. They care about how you made them feel and how you impacted their lives– that’s your legacy.

We sometimes accomplish this through our work, but our impact goes beyond the business day. We are building our legacy in everything that we do and in every interaction we have with others. In being mindful of this, we are more intentional about how we present ourselves, and we write a story about our life that’s worth telling. American baseball player Jackie Robinson once said, “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”

It’s interesting how much we emphasize getting a good job and making money, but we don’t talk nearly enough about how important it is to be proud of the person you are. We teach people how to succeed in business, how to communicate effectively, and even how to innovate, but we very rarely slow down and teach people the importance of building strong relationships. Sure, we’ve all heard the phrase, “It’s not about what you know but who you know,” but it goes deeper than that. We can’t just know someone to share our legacy with them; we have to connect with them and create meaningful interactions.

You don’t have to be in a position of power to build a strong legacy. In fact, some people’s legacies are crafted behind the scenes, but their influence spreads far. Every exchange we have with someone changes them in some way, so we want to be intentional about having a positive impact. When we are young, we all have someone we look up to, and we all dream about the greatness we will deliver to the world. Are you living a life that your 5-year-old-self would be proud of? If you’re not living into the legacy that you want to create, what can you start doing today that will build your legacy into something worth sharing with the world?

-Meghan Slaughter