Your Legacy is Now
Life is not a search for meaning from others, it’s about the creation of meaning for yourself.
For over 30 years Alan Weiss has consulted, coached, and advised everyone from Fortune 500 executives, state governors, non-profit directors, and entrepreneurs to athletes, entertainers, and beauty pageant contestants. That’s quite an assortment of people, and they run into the thousands. Most of them have had what we euphemistically call “means,” and some of them have had a lot more than that. Others have been aspiring and with more ends in sight than means on hand.
Alan Weiss states:
I’ve dealt with esteem (low), narcissism (high), family problems, leadership dysfunctions, insecurities, addictions, and ethical quandaries. And I’ve talked about them through the coronavirus crisis. But don’t get the wrong idea. About 95% of these people have been well-meaning, honest (to the best of their knowledge), and interested in becoming a better person and better professional. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be talking to me.
I found the equivalent of the “runner’s wall” in their journeys, where they must break through the pain and the obstacles and then can keep going with renewed energy and spirit. But runners know how far they must go after the breakthrough, be it another half lap or another five miles. There is a finish line.
I’ve found that people in all positions, even after the “breakthrough,” don’t know where they are in the race, let alone where the finish line is.
They do not know what meaning is for them. They may have money in the bank, good relationships, the admiration of others, and the love of their dogs. But they have no metrics for “What now?” They believe that at the end of life there is a tallying, some metaphysical accountant who totals up their contributions, deducts their bad acts, and creates the (hopefully positive) difference.
That difference, they believe, is their “legacy.”
But the thought that legacy arrives at the end of life is as ridiculous as someone who decides to sell a business and tries to increase its valuation the day prior. Legacy is now. Legacy is daily. Every day we create the next page in our lives, but the question becomes who is writing it and what’s being written. Is someone else creating our legacy? Or are we, ourselves, simply writing the same page repeatedly?
Or do we leave it blank?
Our organic, living legacy is marred and squeezed by huge normative pressures. There is a “threshold” point, at which one’s beliefs and values are overridden by immense peer pressure. Our metrics are forced to change.
In an age of social media, biased press, and bullying, we’ve come to a point where our legacy, ironically, is almost out of our hands.
Yet our “meaning”—our creation of meaning and not a search for some illusive alchemy—creates worth and impact for us and all those with whom we interact.
Joe Weber
I am in agreement with your assessment of Card Services International. We had a problem with one of their agents, and we sent them the email below. They apparently made some sort of attempt to get to the bottom of this. But they basically said there is nothing they can do about it. It was OUR problem that their agent took money out of our account improperly.
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We relocated from Massachusetts to Florida in April 2006. We discontinued product sales via credit card, and we returned the rental machine on March 28th 2006 to:
James Greenbaum
First Data Card Services
44 Beach Drive
Little Compton RI 02837
Phone: 401-635-4435
However, we noted in June 2007 that Mr. Greenbaum had continued to take $35 per month out of our bank account. In order to stop this, we had to close our account. We were finally able to get in phone contact with Mr. Greenbaum. He said that he did receive the machine, and it was a mistake that those charges were levied over those 15 months. He said he would send us a refund. When we didn’t get the refund after a couple of weeks, we contacted him again. He said he was tied up but would definitely call us the next day. But he didn’t. When we were eventually able to reach him again, in the evening, he said to please call his cell phone the next day. We did, but he didn’t answer. We’ve left countless messages, since he no longer answers our calls.
We’re not sure if Mr. Greenbaum is an agent or an employee of Card Services International. But he certainly does not represent the company in a positive light. His inappropriate charges, deceptive communications, and questionable integrity are all very disturbing. We would appreciate it if Card Services International would convince him to behave in the manner we’re sure you expect from people in this position. We would also appreciate it if someone at CSI would call me to explain why this has happened and how we can best get it resolved.