Write your own Obituary & Decide your Legacy

What kind of legacy would you like to leave when you are no longer with us? In this episode I share one unique way to put your life and legacy into perspective so you can leave the impact you want. Does that sound interesting? Then keep reading.

To help you decide and create the legacy you desire you need to do an activity that may sound a little morbid but I promise you it is not. This activity has two steps. The first step is, write your own obituary the way it would be written as if you passed away today. What would your family and friends say about you? When you are writing your it, be honest with yourself. Take a hard look at your life. What would they honestly say. Sure they may flower it up a little bit but when you write it. Don’t enhance it at all. Keep it honest. Keep it real. As far as length goes try to keep it between 2-3 paragraphs.

Are you finding it difficult to write? You are not alone. Many people find it difficult to write their own obituary. One of the hard parts is taking a hard and honest look at yourself but the other tricky one is accepting the fact that you are going to die. At some point, you will not be here on this planet anymore. No matter what you believe what happens after you pass away, there will be a time when you are longer walking this earth. This simple fact is very hard for some people to accept. While it may be difficult for you to accept, I implore you to accept it and do this activity. If you do, the rest of your time here can and will be filled with even more joy and gratefulness. So take the first step and write your obituary the way it would be written as if you passed away today.

Did you write it? Great! Now, if you were anything like me you noticed some things in your life that you weren’t happy with. Maybe you spend too much time at work and not with your family. Maybe you noticed your life is out of balance and can see the parts that you give too much weight. Just because this is what you wrote today doesn’t mean it has to remain that way. Now that you have written it you realize the things you would like to change. That lead us to the second step.

The second step is to re-write your obituary but this time write is as if you lived the life you dreamed of. What would your family and friends say about you after you changed the things you wanted to change? You can say anything you want, as long as it makes your heart sing.

After you write it make a list of the things you need to change to make the things you said in your second obituary true. (No, not the dying part, the positive changes.) Now you have a list of things you want to change. Look at that list and come up with ways to make those happen. Create goals and tasks to accomplish them and then go after it!

Every 6-12 months take a look at your second obituary and see how you are doing. Are you making those changes you wanted to make? Do you want to change your obituary? If you want to change it, then redo this entire activity. The best part is that you are always learning and growing. You obituary won’t be the exact same year to year. As you continue to grow and improve your life new things become important and others fade away. That’s ok. Live the life you want people to write about after you pass away and you will be living your life to the max!