What will you be remembered for when you die?
I recently gave a talk to an audience on the power of living fully in our lives. The quest for finding the essence within us that makes us live each and everyday with a greater sense of purpose, passion and presence in our world.
As a transformational coach, intuitive and medium I’ve often experienced situations where client’s loved ones have presented with messages of encouragement, wanting them to make the most of the precious gift of life that they have been afforded.
And if there is one thing that separates those soul-centred leaders who have managed to create, and craft lives of greatness, it would be their ability to connect with a deep sense of PURPOSE and MISSION in their lives.
- But what is it that really gives our lives meaning?
- What is it that can provide us with greater purpose and direction, even in the moments when we feel lost and off-track?
I believe it’s our capacity to connect with a deep sense of mission, a greater ‘why’ that goes beyond just achieving success and instead encourages us to craft a life of greatness.
So, here’s a simple but powerful exercise that will help you connect with what’s really most important to you in life …
Life Success: Starting with the End in Mind
Several years ago, Stephen Covey, best-selling author of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People defined one of the habits as being ‘Starting with the End in Mind’.
However, when it comes to our own lives, it can be easy to forget that we are only here for a limited amount of time, that our journey in this ‘Earth School’ will eventually come to an end.
So, if you really want to find more purpose, direction and passion in your life, start by asking this one question:
“What do I want to be remembered for when I die?”
This one question is powerful in its own right for it will help you uncover what is really important for you in life.
You may even want to imagine yourself travelling forward in time to your 80th birthday, or even to your own funeral service and imagine:
- What are people are saying about you?
- What do they remember you for?
- What do they say was most important to you in life?
- What stories and events do they feel shaped and defined your life?
- What difference and impact did you make?
- How did you contribute and enrich people’s lives?
- What is the legacy that you left behind?
It’s a powerful process that will help you uncover your ‘true values’ in life.
Afterall, we can’t take money and material possessions with us into the next world, but what we will take and gather are the experiences, the memories, the relationships and the connections that we have made along the journey.
Time to Reimagine Your Future
Remember, the greatest gift that you have been given as a human being is in your ability to visualise, imagine and recreate your future.
If the life you have been living and the results you have produced are not what you wanted, then the good news is that you can choose to leave the past and recreate a new future by simply committing to change your approach, change your values, change your decisions and change your behaviour.
One of the greatest benefits of asking the question above is that it will allow you to see what needs to change in the time that you have remaining on the earth plane. It will also encourage you to create a new sense of purpose and mission, a powerful and compelling reason for being that will move you forward.
Make the Most of Your Dash
If you’ve ever wandered through a cemetery you may have seen the myriad of tombstones celebrating the lives of the individuals that once graced this wonderful planet. What all of these people had in common is that they were all born and they all had an expiry or end date. In fact you’ll often see this represented on the headstones by a birth year and end year.
But what is it that often separates these two years – a dash. It’s what we do in the time that we have left that makes the most difference. It’s value is in how we choose to contribute, how we choose to live, in the moments of joy that we choose to fill our lives with, who we choose to love and we choose to love them.
So, if you’re wanting to make the most of the dash that you have remaining, take some time out to carefully look at and review ‘What’s most important to you in life’. Too many people spend their entire lives climbing the ladder of success, status and materialism only to find out that the ladder was against the wrong wall.
Live Your Life Without Regret
Choosing in favour of your highest values and what’s most important to you will help you live a life that is rich, happy, meaningful and fulfilling. It’s just one way to ensure we don’t arrive at the end of our lives with regrets, wishing that we could have done things differently.
According to Australian nurse and author, Bronnie Ware, one of the greatest regrets in life for most people is that they never lived a life that was true to themselves.
Asking “What do I want to be remembered for when I die?” provides a powerfully way to connect with our own mortality, but in a way that can help you ignite the path forward to live fully by choosing to live a life that is true to your own self, your own desires and your own spirit.
So, make sure to take some time and answer this question today.
It could be one of the most purpose-filled and meaningful exercises that you could do for your life!
Ready to Switch on a Greater Light?
On the path of greatness, we are all being encouraged to connect with our true purpose and passion, and to live lives that fully reflect the greatness that is present within our own beings.
If you’re ready to expand your own presence and light in the world and to share your life message in a greater way, then make sure to check out our ‘Be the Lighthouse’ program. A unique 7-month transformational journey for soul-centred and aspiring individuals who know the time has come to awaken their innate gifts and make a bigger impact in the world. Contact our office today for more details on the program.