‘If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.’  Isaac Newton

When creating legacy, you have to be resourceful in building a supportive network  that will help you complete your legacy projects. Not all members of your supportive network need to know that they are helping you out. In fact, many of them may have never even heard of you, or may even be long gone. Here are three unconventional yet effective ways of proceeding:

1. Turn your rivals into mentors. Make your rivals be part of your supportive network, not just people who mean you well.

2. Use others’ success as pace-setters. Use the success of people you have never met but can read about as a standard by which to measure your own progress.

3. Role models. Use role models to create the ‘your are not alone’ feeling that you need in order to get over the hard times. These role models don’t need to have heard of you, they just need to be really inspirational and have gone through difficult times themselves.

 As you can see, you can still have a supportive network around you even when it seems like you are on your own.

What are your thoughts?

Can you think of other unconventional ways to have a supportive network? Share your ideas with us in the comments section.

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‘Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to that arrogant oligarchy who merely happen to be walking around.’  G.K.Chesterton

Establishing a tradition during your lifetime, one that is likely to outlast you, is a particularly interesting way of creating legacy.

I’m thinking about this of course because today is April Fools’ Day, a day when we are traditionally encouraged to be light-hearted and play pranks on others.

The origins of April Fools’ day

The origins of April Fools’ day are uncertain. Some see it as a celebration related to the turn of the seasons, while others believe it stems from the adoption of a new calendar.

Joseph Boskin, a professor of history at Boston University, suggested that the practice began during the reign of Constantine, when a group of court jesters and fools told the Roman emperor that they could do a better job of running the empire. Constantine, amused, allowed a jester named Kugel to be king for one day. Kugel passed an edict calling for absurdity on that day, and the custom became an annual event.

This explanation was brought to the public’s attention in an Associated Press article printed by many newspapers in 1983. There was only one catch: Boskin made the whole thing up. It took a couple of weeks for the AP to realize that they’d been victims of an April Fools’ joke themselves.

Precedents of creating legacy through traditions

Reading about Joseph Boskin’s prank got me thinking about how some of our traditions are in fact associated with particular people. Valentine’s Day, for example, has become part of the legacy of St. Valentine’s and celebrates romance. In Romania, the country where I come from, a few weeks before Christmas there is the celebration associated with the legacy of St. Nicholas and his generosity. The celebration consists of children getting sweets in their shoes (but only if they’ve been good; otherwise, they get sticks). Christmas and Easter are nowadays associated with the legacy of Jesus Christ. And of course, all the name days are part of the legacy of particular saints – real of imaginary.

What would your tradition be?

Nowadays, when there are so many savvy people in the ways of marketing, it should be particularly feasible to set up a particular tradition as a way of creating legacy. Which tradition would you like to establish during your lifetime? If there was a feast you could associate with your name, what would that feast be about? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section.

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‘We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change.’  Peter F. Drucker

The other day, I read in the newspaper about an 85-year old woman, Dorothy Gartell, who had recently taken up a course in bricklaying and was putting her skills to use by bricking up a doorway and a window as part of a major makeover at a community development in Manchester.

A few facts on Dorothy Gartell

When interviewed, Dorothy Gartell said that her lust for learning had become stronger the older she got. Over the past few years, she has trained in dress-making, visual arts, poetry, tai chi, creative writing, swimming, motor mechanics, painting, Spanish, and wood-work. She also helps out as a DJ for a community radio station, and is hoping to start learning Polish after her bricklaying course is over.

Dorothy Gartell as a role model to legacy creators

I have always found that people such as Dorothy make tremendous role models for those of us who want to create legacy. The desire to stretch yourself on a daily basis, regardless of any constraints you may face in your life, is very much part of creating legacy, and something that Dorothy and others like her embody through their thirst for new learning experiences. Dorothy’s way of life is also akin to Renaissance thinking, an approach to creating legacy that I am very much in favour of.

I have been really lucky to have befriended quite a few people like Dorothy over the past few years, and my thoughts about creating legacy have been very much inspired by such people. It seems to me that creating legacy and pushing yourself to learn something new every day go hand in hand. You can’t create something of value if you don’t also keep learning and stretching yourself. You need high-quality input to generate high-quality output. And the more you step out of your comfort zone, the more you stimulate your brain to create something of value.

Lifelong learning makes you fun to be around

And quite apart from the connection between lifelong learning and creating legacy – I’ve found that people like Dorothy are tremendous fun to be around. They’re so excited by all the things going on in their lives, by all the stuff they’re learning, they simply have little time to spend thinking about any  health or any other problems – much less to complain about them to others. That’s not to say that suffering in silence is a good thing – but stimulating your brain with new, exciting material makes it easier to deal with any problems you may have, so in fact you’re not suffering as much, and you have less of a need to tell others about all the negative stuff you are having to deal with.

What about you?

Do you have someone like Dorothy in your life? Have you been inspired by someone else’s desire to keep learning new things? Share your thougths in the comments below.

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‘People seldom see the halting and painful steps by which the most insignificant success is achieved.’ Anne Sullivan

In her hugely insightful book ‘The Creative Habit’, choreographer Twyla Tharp talks about the way in which starting her day with a ritual prepares her for the intensely creative work she does during the rest of the day. 

Examples of rituals

Twyla Tharp’s own ritual is to work out in the gym for two hours; but she also describes very different rituals adopted by composers, writers, painters etc. 

For example, Igor Stravinsky’s daily ritual consisted of sitting at the piano and playing a Bach fugue. As Twyla Tharp speculates, perhaps he needed the ritual to feel like  a musician, or the playing somehow connected him to musical notes, his vocabulary. Perhaps he was honouring his hero, Bach, and seeking his blessing for the day. Perhaps it was nothing more than a simple method to get his fingers moving, his motors running, his mind thinking music. But repeating the routine each day in the studio induced some click that got him started.  

Beethoven, on the other hand, would start his day with a morning walk. He would use the walk to scribble into a pocket sketchbook the first rough notes of whatever musical idea inevitably entered his head. Having limbered up his mind in this way, he would return to his room and start to work.

How can a ritual help you?

As Twyla Tharp says, turning something into a ritual eliminates questions such as ‘why am I doing this?’ or ‘do I like this?’. And through taking out the element of uncertainty from the start of your day, you prepare your body and brain for the more challenging creative work you are about to engage in.

How a ritual may help with creating legacy

Twyla Tharp’s emphasis of the importance of preparation rituals for creativity got me thinking that this would be an excellent way to start the day for anyone wanting to create legacy, whether in a traditionally ‘creative’ field or not.

For my part, since reading ‘The Creative Habit’, I’ve tried to find something that I can turn into a ritual (the ritual has to be right for you; and it has to be effective and reliable in kick-starting a productive day). I’ve tried starting the day with drafting blog posts; creative writing; stretches; reading; meditation. None of this seemed to work reliably enough. But about a week ago, I’ve initiated every day by typing something up for about an hour or so – either the creative writing notes I had taken during the previous day, or my notes on the latest book I had read (I always take tons of notes).

It’s too early to tell, but I’m starting to think that this might become my ritual – it seems to have worked wonders so far. I guess as I do most of my work at the computer, starting my day at the computer gets me ‘warmed up’ to my environment for the day. Indeed, one of Twyla Tharp’s observations is that many habitually creative people have preparation rituals that are linked to the setting in which they work.  On the other hand, the fact that typing up notes does not feel overwhelming helps to ease me into my work environment for another day of writing.

What about you?

Do you have any ritual to kick-start your day? If you do, or if you have any other thoughts related to this post, I’d love to read about it in the comments section.

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‘We choose to go…not because [it is] easy, but because [it is] hard, because that goal will serve to measure and organize the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.’  John Fitzgerald Kennedy

I recently became acquainted with the work of children’s author Kate DiCamillo. This happened quite by accident. I was in a bookstore, searching for another book – and the title ‘The Magician’s Elephant’ caught my eye. I read the first page, and the second, and the third – and before I knew it, I was totally engrossed in the story. This was not just the kind of ‘oh I wonder how this story ends’ type of engrossed. I loved the writing, the story – everything. It had a kind of poignancy to it that I haven’t encountered in a long time. I had to read this book. And everything else by this author (among others, she wrote ’Because of Winnie-Dixie’, which was turned into a motion picture; and ‘The Tale of Despereaux’, which became an animated film with an impressive cast). As I was ordering her books through Amazon, I realised her writing had made such a big impression on me that I wanted to find out everything I could about Kate DiCamillo – her story, how she came to writing the kinds of books she is writing. 

How Kate DiCamillo became a writer

Kate DiCamillo’s story has important lessons to teach to those of us who are working towards creating legacy. It turns out that even after so many years as a writer, she still finds writing excruciatingly difficult. Every morning, she begins the day by thinking ‘I cannot do this. I simply cannot write.’ And then she goes and does it anyway. But she only writes two pages a day. Even when things are going well. And even now, after years of writing, winning several awards, having her books turned into films. This is all she can take: two pages. But every single day. Despite the fact that she absoutely dreads it. Writing those two pages takes her about an hour, and then she can enjoy the rest of her day. By writing those two pages, she has fulfilled her promise towards herself.

While in college, a tutor told Kate DiCamillo she had a way with words. So she said to herself ‘Great. I’ve got a way with words. I’m going to be a writer. I’m going to be rich and famous.’  And then she started thinking about writing without actually writing anything. For 10 long years. She eventually realised that if she continued along this path, she would one day think ‘I could have done this’, and realise it is too late. And that nothing would change unless she made it change. So she came up with her two-pages-a-day promise to herself.

But things didn’t go smoothly. She got over 400 rejection letters, but kept on sending her stuff out. She says that after 10 years of waiting, she felt such a strong sense of self-disgust about herself that nothing could stop her. Eventually, she got through the Dip and success followed. But her journey shows just how skilled we are at deceiving ourselves, and provides several important lessons for how to counter our own self-deceptions:

Just because you find doing something difficult does not mean you shouldn’t do it. It may still be the thing you were put on this earth to do. Do you feel it in your bones? Then you have to do it, no matter how hard it may be.

Work on your legacy project every day. It doesn’t matter if you work on it for an hour, or 20 mins, or even five minutes. But you need to do it. Every day.

Don’t make it about your talent, make it about your persistence. Talent you can’t control. Persistence is under your spell. And in the long run, persistence wins every time.

I hope you have found Kate DiCamillo’s story as helpful and inspirational as I have. Let us all do our best to conquer our personal Mount Everest every single day, and fulfil our promise to ourselves. Life is short, and as Kate DiCamillo says – none of us wants to get to the age when we think ‘I could have done that’ and realise that it is too late. 

The time is now.

What about you?

Is there anyone who has inspired you recently? Do you have any insights into how to conquer your Mount Everest? Please write your comments below, so we can all learn from your experience.

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Here is a YouTube clip of my biggest role model, Angela Lansbury, after winning her 5th Tony Award at age 83. Notice how even at this advanced age she is still talking about what she is planning to do work-wise, i.e. how she will continue working towards her legacy goal.

Now aged 84, Angela Lansbury is back on Broadway, doing eight shows a week as Madame Armfeld in the Stephen Sondheim musical A Little Night Music. If you read interviews with her, you will also see that she is still talking about looking for that meaty film role that has eluded her all her life. That’s what I call pursuing your legacy goals until the very end, and this is why she is my biggest role model.

The time is now.

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‘I have gathered a posie of other men’s flowers, and nothing but the thread that binds them is my own.’  Michel de Montaigne

Finding good role models can be a huge help in working towards your legacy goal. Here are three ways in which role models can help:

1. Role models provide consolation. They remind you that in order to create legacy, you will have to suffer. In other words, they can help you create the ‘you are not alone’ feeling you need in order to get over the rough patches. 

2. Role models provide inspiration. By reading their stories, they show you just how high you can reach. Some of my role models, for example, lived in another era, and managed to spread their brand without any of the wonderful tools we have today. Reading their story always makes me think ‘if they could do it, so can I’. 

3. Role models set a standard. Role models can become a standard to aim for and then overtake. As part of your role model mix, choose a few role models who are maybe not world-famous or have not achieved spectacular things, but are doing quite a bit better than you. Aim to overtake them, and then raise the bar even higher with a new set of non-world-famous role models you can overtake in a reasonable amount of time. Remember: don’t rest on your laurels, work on your legacy goal should never end. Always raise the bar higher and higher, to infinity.

The time is now.

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‘The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.’  Nelson Henderson

When you visit somewhere, meet someone new etc. remember: leave a trace. For example, if you visit a museum, write something in their guestbook. When you meet someone, ask if it is okay to take a picture with them. And make sure that in every job you leave, your former colleagues have something to remember you by.

 Constantly thinking of ways to leave a trace is an important part of creating legacy. When all is said and done, the traces you have left will ensure that you will remain in people’s memory for longer.

 Leaving traces is not the only thing you should do, of course. The most important thing in creating legacy is completing legacy projects. However, once you complete each project, the traces you have left will help others get inspired by your struggles against adversity while working on their legacy projects.

 So start asking yourself daily: how am I going to leave a trace today?

The time is now.

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‘What is the worst of woes that wait on age? What stamps the wrinkle deeper on the brow? To view each loved one blotted from life’s page, And be alone on earth, as I am now.’  Lord Byron

If you want to create legacy, and you have a clear legacy goal, you have to get used to being alone, at least some of the time. It’s just the way it goes.

 The trick, however, is to not feel like you are the only person going through what you are going through. I call it the ‘you are not alone’ feeling, i.e. the feeling that somewhere in this world, there is at least one other person who is going through something similar. Or even better, went through something similar and came out victorious.

 What the other person went through does not have to be the exact same thing as you. Indeed, the story of someone who went through something worse can give you an even stronger ‘you are not alone’ feeling.

 Here is why it is important to create the ‘you are not alone’ feeling for yourself: because this feeling makes it less likely for you to give up on your legacy goal. If you think that someone else went through a similar or worse situation and succeeded in achieving their legacy goal, you are more likely to want to stick to yours. Whereas if you feel alone in working towards your goal, you will start to question why you are working towards it in the first place, and asking this kind of question when the temptation to give up is strong is never a good thing.

 So whenever things get tough in reaching for your legacy goal, and you feel all alone, hunt around for stories of people who went through worse before achieving their goals. It will give you a sense of perspective and will help you keep going.

The time is now.

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‘You have to know one big thing and stick with it. The leaders who had one very big idea and one very big commitment. This permitted them to create something. Those are the ones who leave a legacy.’  Irving Kristol

A legacy goal is something you work towards, which you think will contribute to you creating legacy. This type of goal usually takes the form of building an outstanding career in a particular area. For example, your legacy goal can be to create a substantial body of work as an actress; to publish several life-changing novels; or to become a music icon.

 You can have more than one legacy goal throughout your life. Cher, for example, worked towards two legacy goals: one in music, the other in acting. If you choose to do that, you should make sure one of your goals is firmly under way before adopting the second goal, so as not to spread yourself too thin and miss valuable opportunities in both areas.

 You may also have several legacy goals within the same (broader) area of work. This can work to your advantage, as success in one area can be used to start from a strong position in a related area. For example, Angela Lansbury started out her career by pursuing a legacy goal as an award-winning film actress. She later used her successes in the film industry to land a leading part in a Broadway musical, after only one other short-lived experience as a musical stage actress. After garnering numerous awards as part of pursuing this second legacy goal, she then leveraged her successes once again to land the leading role of Jessica Fletcher on Murder She Wrote, thus becoming a world-famous television star.

 Do you already know what your legacy goal is? Do you have more than one goal? Choose carefully and focus, as the legacy goal(s) you set yourself can either cement or undermine your legacy.

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