Five Steps To Build Your Legacy and Why It Matters - Wishful Doing (2025)

It is said that folks won’t remember what you said, but instead how you made them feel. It’s never too early or too late to start thinking about your legacy. Further, a legacy mindset just might be the thing to keep you on track to accomplish your goals and fulfill the vision you have for your life. By taking these five steps to build your legacy, you can make a positive lasting impact on the lives of others.

What Is a Legacy?

The type of legacy we’re talking about in this article is essentially the story of your life. While a legacy can be negative or positive, we’re talking about how you build a positive legacy. When it’s time to shed your mortal coil and you reflect on your life, who were you really? What were your values? What imprint did you leave behind in the people you met, the organizations you worked for, and the family you were born into or chose? What did you accomplish? How did you make the world a better place, even if only in your tiny corner? Your legacy is what remains when you no longer physically exist in this world.

Your legacy can ultimately give your life meaning. Moreover, by engaging a legacy mindset and actively thinking about how your daily actions build your legacy, your legacy becomes your North Star and guide to keep you on track to living the life you want. To learn more about legacy and your role in the bigger picture of life, check out this article by social researcher and educator, Susan V. Bosak.

How To Build Your Legacy

Your legacy is built through your cumulative actions throughout your life. Everything you do in your life will ultimately shape your legacy and the lasting impression the world will have of you. What drives your legacy is the following:

• Accomplishments – awards, overcoming adversity, excelling as a leader
• Impact on Others – setting positive examples, good deeds, exhibiting bravery
• Sharing Resources – philanthropic endeavors, volunteering

Why You Need To Build Your Legacy

The reality is that we’re not getting out of here alive. It can be a bitter pill to swallow, but some metaphorical sugar can help the medicine go down. While we’re physically here for a relatively brief moment in time, we have the power to create meaningful moments, experiences, and opportunities that will outlive us. In other words, you can enjoy some symbolic immortality. When your legacy is truly all that you can leave behind, it is worthwhile to think about and invest in how you want to be remembered by other people and act on those thoughts.

Five Steps To Build Your Legacy

1. Build Your Legacy By Being the Person To Others that You Once Needed

Let’s face it. Life can be really tough, trauma-ridden, and difficult to get through. As much as we wish it weren’t so, we will all face much adversity in our lives. While confronting adversity can be extremely challenging, learning to move through adversity helps us develop resilience and perseverance. The beauty is that the more you overcome adversity, the more you can learn to embrace adversity for all the lessons gained. It is the lessons gained that you can share and pass on.

Take the time to reflect on the adversity you have faced and challenges you’ve had to overcome. How did you get through? Did you have people, mentors, sponsors or resources that helped you get through challenging times? Think about how you can channel those positive role models or support systems you benefitted from. If you managed to raise yourself in challenging times without the benefit of care and support from a network, be the person you wish you had in those moments for someone else. You can emulate the person who was there for you in difficult times.

The reality is that it can be hard to gain buy-in or have credibility unless you’ve walked a mile in someone else’s shoes. You are best positioned to lend an ear or helping hand to someone who is facing the same challenges you had to overcome. You have the power, credibility, and social proof to demonstrate to another person that you cannot only survive, but thrive in the face of similar adversity. You have the power to save someone’s life. What better legacy is there?

2. Spread joy

I’m not saying that you have to be the poster child of positivity, although it doesn’t hurt. In fact, there’s a lot of research out there about the power of positivity. You can read a brief summary of a few studies on the power of positive thinking here. Here’s the thing. When people see you coming, do you want them to feel joy or dread?

When people associate you with positive feelings they want to see you, spend time with you, and are more willing to help you when you need them. More importantly, they benefit from enjoying your company. You make them feel good about themselves, their relationships, and life in general. This is the epitome of folks remembering how you made them feel. When you make people feel good you build a legacy of happiness, optimism, joy, and contentment.

3. Share Your Talents and Gifts

You are special. Seriously. There is no one else like you on the planet. No one sees things exactly like you do because they haven’t lived your life and had your specific experiences. Even when you share similar gifts and talents as someone else, you will have your own flair.

As an example, think of some of your favorite comedians. They all make you laugh, but they each have their own style that makes them unique. And no matter how many comedians there are, there is always room for more because no two are the same. Some comedians resonate with you and other’s don’t. So, the more comedians the better.

Don’t discount your talents and gifts and the power of sharing your gifts and talents with folks. It can be easy to discount your gifts and talents when they come easy to you or seem like no big deal. If someone has told you that you are great at something, believe them. If multiple people have told you that you excel at something in particular, know that it is most definitely a gift, talent, or competency that you have—especially if you think it’s no big deal.

Someone out there needs whatever you’ve got. Build your legacy by sharing your talents and gifts with folks or organizations. Your talents and gifts have the power to solve a challenge, improve the quality of someone’s life, or simply make someone’s life more vibrant. For a practical approach to legacy thinking, check out this article.

4. Be Authentic and Find Your Tribe

There is someone out there for everyone. The sooner you learn to embrace and love yourself and honor who are through authentic interactions, the sooner you’ll find your tribe—and possibly even your gifts. Your tribe will love, value, and appreciate you for your all your quirks and superpowers.

In a society that values conformity, but rewards individualism, don’t be so hard on yourself when you don’t feel like you fit in [you need to love the sh!t out of yourself!]. What makes you stand out is what makes you special and is a commodity to be valued and cherished. Living authentically is your beacon to help your tribe find you and for you to find your tribe.

Moreover, it is only when you are willing to be vulnerable and live authentically that your tribe can find you and you can find them. There is a high return on investment for living authentically. One such benefit is the opportunity to go through life with a community of folks that get, support, and love you. This is especially true if you’ve ever felt isolated or like you can’t relate to anyone. Somewhere out there is someone who feels exactly like you do. How wonderful is it to know that you’re not alone?

If you feel like being authentic is a challenge for you and could use some help getting honest with yourself, check out this other article I wrote. The sooner you can learn to live authentically, the sooner you can inspire others and make a lasting impact on someone else’s life.

5. Give Back

Whether through time or money, it’s important to give back and pay it forward. When you give back, it’s like casting a stone into a pond. The ripple effect that one pebble can cause is exponential. Find a cause or several causes that you have personal experience with or that resonate with you for a compelling reason. By making financial contributions, volunteering on the ground, or serving in a more strategic capacity—such as through board work—you have the possibility to maximize your reach and impact in perpetuity.

In Summary

When you approach life through a legacy mindset, you can build your legacy in alignment with your aspirations, goals, and vision for your life. Moreover, the legacy you desire to build serves as a North Star for your daily actions. By being the person you once needed to someone else, spreading joy, sharing your talents and gifts, being authentic, and giving back, you can build a legacy that makes the world a better place for generations to come. While you should build your legacy for your life as a whole, you should also think about going one step further to build your legacy of leadership. If you’d like some legacy mindset ideas for defining your leadership, check out this article.

CHECK-IN

1. How have you actively begun to build your legacy?

2. How do you want to be remembered or what legacy do you want to leave?

3. What is your favorite quote about leaving a legacy?