Live a Purposeful Life and Leave a Powerful Legacy
Take this quick quiz to discover if you are living a purposeful, intentional life:
- Do you understand the meaning/purpose of your life?
- Are you currently living and working your life purpose?
- Do you have a personal mission statement?
- Can you name the top 5 values in your personal values system?
- Do you have a long-term vision of what you want/don’t want your future life to look like?
- Can you define what holistic success means to you?
- Do you have a priority list for living your life? Or is it important for you to leave behind something of value to others?
- Do you know what you want your legacy to be?
- Are your values, beliefs, attitudes, and actions in your daily life consistently aligned with your life purpose, vision, and legacy?
If you answered “No” to any of the questions above, read on.
Photo Source: Philipp Guttmann [CC BY-SA 4.0]
How is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs relevant to living a purposeful life?
The world has changed considerably, since 1954, when Maslow’s book “Motivation and Personality” was published. With the advent of computers and communication technology. Hence, we are now connected to countries and people all across the planet. Therefore, we tend to think more globally. And we have the capability of having our individual contributions to life on the planet impact hundreds, if not thousands, of people.
Furthermore, we have the power to choose what our individual contributions will be. As well as what consequences our actions or contributions will have. By creating a vision of a purposeful life, based on a strong, positive values system, we can design goals, strategies. And create activities that will influence others’ lives today, tomorrow, and for generations to come.
Each of us has that power. And, more than that, each of us has an obligation to use that power. So, what do most people do with that power? Most do absolutely nothing.
Rather than react to things that happen to us, we have the power and ability to proactively create actions of value and impact. Additionally, once we reach the self-actualization phase of Mazlow’s Hierarchy, we have the ability and obligation to add an additional layer of development. By living purposefully, we can create visions and plans intended to leave powerful legacies that will leave our world a better place for the next, and future generations.
Legacies can be:
– Financial: inheritances, scholarships, charitable donations, charitable foundations, etc.
– Physical: leaving/donating buildings, equipment, vehicles, furniture, etc.
– Philosophical: living a purposeful life. Focused on enhancing the quality of life for others through values/vision. Environment-friendly actions. Or combinations thereof. They can touch individuals and/or groups, in local, regional, national and/or global communities.
