Legacy vs. Tombstone

“What do you want your tombstone to say?” I remember going through this exercise a number of years ago as a participant in a team-building exercise. Everyone struggled to come up with a few words that would describe how they wanted to be remembered after they die. What words could be carved into a hunk of stone to summarize an entire life?In retrospect, I really don’t like this exercise at all. Mostly, I dislike it because it simply isn’t a practical way to consider the impact you want your life to have. A tombstone is a cold piece of granite that will sit in the middle of a field, rarely seen, as a testament to the fact that you were once here. However, memories are living things. Your impact on others is a force multiplier.Rather than worry about the handful of words that will go on your tombstone, I think it’s far more effective to focus on the investments you are making in the lives of others. Focus on developing a living legacy that will continue to echo for generations to come.Don’t worry about how you’ll be remembered. Make investments in other people that will echo for generations to come.What investment will you make in the life of another person today? Who can you spend time with, encourage, build up?