7 - Your Legacy

Hello, and welcome to your legacy. In this video, we're going to talk about your legacy. We're going to define what that means, why it is one of the most important things that you need to know about yourself and your business, and how to craft what I call a legacy statement. A simple one sentence articulation of the entire reason why your business exists. One decision that will make

1,000 decisions down the line. If you're like most people who joined this program, the idea of a legacy is something that hugely drives you, and is maybe even the reason you got into business in the first place. It's a powerful module, and let's dive in. In the metaphor that we're using of a boat on the ocean, your legacy is your tropical paradise at the end of the

ocean. The reason that you even set out on a boat is because in your mind, you could picture in some form this outcome, this end goal, this end game, this mark on the world, this mission, and that is the tropical paradise. At the end of the ocean, when you've crossed hundreds of thousands of miles and weathered countless storms, you will reach your tropical paradise, your legacy. So

that's how it fits into the metaphor. Now let's define it really quick. This is my definition. It's a little bit different than the dictionary definition, but I like it. Legacy. I'd find the legacy is that which is left behind. The impact that prevails beyond one's lifetime. That which is left behind. The impact that prevails beyond one's lifetime. This is a legacy. And here's a quote that Matt

Cohen, the co-creator of this course, shared with me. And it's a very powerful quote, so I want to share it. You only get one shot at this existence. In one day, when you're gone, the most important thing that will leave behind is the legacy of the life you lived. Make sure you make it a story you're proud to have others tell. And I don't know who said

that. I need to get it properly attributed when I update the course, but I do know that every time I hear that quote, it focuses me on what truly matters in my life and in my business. And it illuminates why legacy is the filter through which I make all of my decisions. So here's the problem. Why are we talking about legacy? Why do we have a video

on it? Why am I going to show you how to craft a legacy statement? Why is this even necessary? First of all, most people or businesses only have a vague notion of the legacy that they want to create. And it sort of changes each time they share it. So they have some sort of sense of the reason why their business exists, why they work so hard, why

they got into business in the first place. But it's pretty vague, it's pretty hazy. And each time they share, they'll share a different version of it. And it'll typically be, I mean, the stereotypical version of this is when Silicon Valley startup founders will share their vision. And it's just some cliche formulation of to change the world, or to make the world a better place. A legacy is

specific, a legacy is empowering, a legacy is also measurable. But most businesses or people only have a vague notion of the legacy they want to create. And this isn't useful. It's not useful as a tool for making decisions. And if you're not clear about what you want to create, it's very unlikely that you will create it. Second, most businesses, because they have a vague notion of the

legacy that they want to create, the reason why the business exists, try to fulfill too many missions at once. They try to be too many different things. Because whenever another idea or mission comes along, the founder or creator of the business will weather consciously or unconsciously pivot a little bit in that direction. And the problem is if you constantly change your legacy and constantly try to pursue

different missions, you won't achieve any. And we'll talk about shifting your legacy, because your legacy should be adaptable, your legacy statement should be adaptable, it will naturally evolve. But that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about trying to achieve more than one legacy at a time, more than one essential intent, more than one mission, essential intent is a word for legacy pulled from the book essentialism,

which is an amazing book that a lot of this discourse pulled from and I highly recommend. That's number two. If you fulfill too many missions at once or try to fulfill too many missions at once, you end up fulfilling them. And number three, without a defined legacy, business owners begin to question why they're working so hard, why they're doing what they're doing, why they're living the lifestyle

they live. And without a legacy, excuse me, without a legacy without a vision of how you want to impact the world, you tend to default to the four hour work week. And that's okay. In many cases, as a result of defaulting to the four hour work week, people get bored and then end up creating legacy statements and defining legacies and thinking more about positive impact. But without

a defined legacy, business owners tend to default to working as little as possible while making as much money as possible. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm not judging anybody who does that. But if you want a legacy, if you're driven by positive impact, not just cash and relaxation, then you need to be clear about what it is and it will fuel you through every storm

and every difficult time. So here's the solution. Here's what's on the other side of a crystal clear legacy. First of all, you have a crystal clear vision of your end game. You can picture the positive impact that you want to leave on the world. You've fulfilled just one laser focused mission and you make every decision in your business with the intent to achieve it. And you're driven

by a desire to serve others because when you are driven by a desire to serve others, by this deep why and desire for impact, you will find hidden reserves and strength of strength and motivation because of the positive impact that you can see your work is leading towards. This is on the other side of a legacy statement. Okay, so here's the process. We want to create a

one sentence legacy statement that articulates why your business exists and the fundamental purpose that you seek to achieve with your business. We'll go through how this process works with examples in a minute. We want to craft a one sentence statement that articulates why your business exists. You want this statement to be specific and measurable and hugely emotional, emotionally compelling. There's a word missing here, emotionally compelling, it

should say. Like measurable and hugely emotionally compelling, so you want it to be crystal clear. You want it to be a metric in some way that you can measure, but you also want it to be deeply tapped in to why and to this vision of what you want to accomplish. And any time that you make a decision, once you've crafted this legacy statement, you're going to ask

if it pushes you closer to accomplishing your legacy or further away. It'll become the filter, the paradigm through which you make every decision in your business and this will completely change your business without it. So notice I'm not talking about cash or clients or anything like that here. I'm just talking about impact, but what happens when you focus on legacy above all is that money takes care

of itself because people can tell when businesses are oriented around legacies, when they care more about impact than finances and people flock to those businesses. People want to do business with you if they know that you're playing the long game, that you care more about what happens in 20 years than in two. If you focus on legacy, finances take care of themselves. Now something that I want

to clarify here because it's a crucial sticking point for some people is you do need cash to be able to have the bandwidth to focus on legacy, to be able to focus on legacy. So we've talked about how this program can help you set up perhaps an agency as an engine, a cash flow engine that will give you the bandwidth to focus on more impact driven things.

That could be your scenario and that's okay too. You should still define your legacy statement and it can be your own personal legacy statement in that case. And in that case, you'll still ask decisions like, you'll still you'll still ask questions like, does this decision regarding my agency push me closer or further away from my legacy. So if you're in the scenario where you have a more

impact driven business model that you're developing or currently exists or you want to build and your agency is more of a cash flow machine, still the final legacy statement. It doesn't have to be directly related to your agency, but you should still make every decision regarding your agency through the filter of your legacy statement because the only reason your agency exists or the primary reason your agency

exists is to give you the bandwidth to focus on your legacy. And when you do that, from that point on finances will take care of themselves by and large. Okay, so I want to clarify something. Your legacy statement can change. In fact, it will change, most likely. Entrepreneurs go through a process of constant iteration, you know, we've given you a set of activities to do a set

of exercises to do every quarter and we're giving you things to do every week and every day as well on a recurring basis where you'll constantly be tweaking and iterating your systems and your business and your life. So entrepreneurs are in a state of constant change. It doesn't make sense to fix something like a legacy statement because you'll know more in a month, you'll know more in

a year. So it can change and it will change for most of you. For most of you, it will change many times, but it's still always worth having one defined because then you're always headed in the analogy for an island. You're never just floating aimlessly in the middle of the ocean trying to survive the waves. You always have direction. Even if that direction changes, even if you

decide to pick a different island. You always have one in mind and that gives you clarity and that is hugely important. Now, I'm going to give you two examples. First, I'm going to give you the example of ZenOS of my business. So this is my legacy statement. To help 100 purpose-driven entrepreneurs conquer overwhelm forever and reach them calm. Build seven figure businesses that allow them to live

their dream lives and create legacies of positive impact. This is my single sentence. I sort of broke it up into three bullet points or subsections, but it is more or less a sentence. And the next one I'll show you is certainly a sentence, but it's one simple, concise articulation of why ZenOS exists. ZenOS exists for the sole purpose of achieving this goal. But I try to make

every single decision to further this goal and to accomplish it. And my hope, if you're watching this right now, is that you will be one of these 100 purpose-driven entrepreneurs. That is the reason I created this course in line with this legacy statement. So that is the legacy statement of ZenOS. Now, one more example, and this is pulled from the book Essentialism as well that I referenced

before, because it's an amazing legacy statement. It's a non-profit foundation called Make It Right that was founded after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, and this is its legacy statement. This is its essential intent, as the book Essentialism terms it. To build 150 affordable, green, storm-resistant homes for families living in the lower ninth ward of New Orleans. Notice how this isn't saying to repair homes in New Orleans.

It's not saying to help New Orleans recover from Hurricane Katrina, because all of those are vague. It's saying to build 150, a specific number, affordable, green, storm-resistant homes for families living in this specific location. That is a powerful legacy statement, and that gives a business intense clarity about how to make decisions and what to prioritize. Okay, that's it. Short video, powerful concept. Once you've completed this, post

your legacy statement in the Facebook group for feedback on structure. We won't give you feedback on what your legacy is, because we have no right to. However, there are certain structures, there are certain guidelines that your legacy statement has to fulfill in order to be maximally psychologically compelling. So that is what we will give you feedback on. All right, that's it. Go craft your legacy statement.