WHEN SOMEBODY LOOKS BACK ON YOUR LIFE, AND THEY TELL THE STORY OF YOUR LIFE…
Will it be an EXAMPLE? Or will it be a WARNING?
…will they say “he could have” or “she could have…” or
“if only they had lived up to their potential…”
You will leave a legacy….
The question is what’s it gonna be?
I decided that I wanted my life to be an example rather than a warning.
Welcome to another edition of Greatness Quest. I’m Trevor Crane and I help people take their business and their lives to the next level.
WHICH WILL IT BE?
When you move on from this life into the next, are people gonna be grateful that you lived and ASPIRE to live a life like yours?
Or are they gonna be sad that you’re gone, but then hope that their life does NOT end up the way your life ended up?
Today’s video is actually pretty hard for me to make for you because… I’m shooting it in front of a cemetery. It makes me think of all the people that had been in my life that aren’t here any longer.
But I think it’s also a perfect setting for how you and I can connect, and talk about what it means to leave a legacy for the people who are going be here after you and I are planted in the ground like what you see behind me.
My grandfather left me a legacy by the way he chose to live his life. He summarized that, in the letter that he sent me, his last letter where he talked about, living in PASSION; about picking amazing PEOPLE that you could hang out with and about living in, and being in the PRESENT – in the moment.
Today, I want give you the gift of 3 things that you can do to live an incredible life and to leave a legacy for the people that you love most.
You can use these 3 things to help you: leave your mark on the world, and make a difference.
So I can’t wait to give you these three things!…
NUMBER ONE: LIVE IN GRATITUDE
This is an easy, simple decision that you and I get to make every single day, they can make all the difference. This is about the difference between your life being an example or a warning. And this is it.
It’s so simple. Check this out…
This is about living your life from here (in your heart) in gratitude.
This is about the smile that you and I get to wear on our face.
This is about the difference between you walking around, complaining about things versus strutting around, celebrating your life every single day.
This makes the difference right here.
You know, when my daughter was 2 years old, her mother took her away from me and for 6 months, I didn’t even get to see my daughter and I have lost everything. I had been… I was homeless. I’d lost all my stuff. I stayed in a buddy’s house in his… younger sister’s room and I had nothing left to give my daughter… but my presence.
I chose, and her mother gave me the gift, of being able to communicate with her everyday on video.
So what I ‘could’ do was, I could show up every day and be there for her…
…just like you and I get the opportunity to be there every single day for the people that we/you love most!
…to show up and smile and live gratitude and…
…to challenge yourself everyday to become your best and don’t live in suck.
That’s number one. It’s easy and you and I get to do it every day because if you and I checked out of this world before we want to (which pretty much as everybody) and when we do get ‘planted’ (in the ground) … don’t you want your life’s legacy to be the example of how you chose to live everyday?
And I’m gonna move on to number two….because it’s also awesome.
It’s also easy but this is something that’s gonna take a little bit of effort on your part. This is about:
NUMBER TWO: RECORD YOUR LIFE
This is about… a life worth living, is a life worth recording. This is about… you keeping a journal. This is about… you keeping photo albums…
This is about…you writing your book. This is about… you’re going out and creating something that you can leave behind instead of… letting it slip away.
So check this out:
I brought with me today some of the journals that I’ve kept over the years. Now, it doesn’t matter what your journal looks like. It can be a pretty one. It can be in a bound book.
Or, it can be like this one that I’m keeping right now, that was just $0.99.
I get to write in there and I can keep my life, my dreams, my vision and I can go ahead… and if I was to pass tomorrow, then I’ve got something that I get to leave behind where I can…
…the people who love me most, will know what I thought and what I think, and what my life is all about and it’s all in my journal.
And it doesn’t stop there you know.
You can go ahead and leave behind your own photo albums and I would challenge you, don’t just leave it in your iPhone or on your computer but print it out – put it in a book.
This doesn’t cost very much.
We have a family yearbook that we now create, capturing all of the experiences that we have during the year so that I have a book that I can actually leave behind for my family that actually outlines all the awesome that we have in our lives.
Remember, when I told you about not being with my daughter for those 6 months?
Well, I chose to give her a gift of some photos that we had taken together in the form of a book.
And I realized, this was the first book I ever wrote!
The book is a Phoenix Rose Adventure, called: Where Is The Most Beautiful Girl In The World?
In it are photos of some magic moments of when I was last with my daughter.
You see, when I wasn’t with her for 6 months, I wanted her mother to have a story she could read to our daughter showing her, proving to her that I loved her. And celebrating our fun, and about how we’d lived our life.
In the book, I also have photos of us hanging out with Mojo. who was our beagle who has since passed away. But my daughter gets to remember Mojo, because I took the time to put photos of him into our book and to create a little story that will keep him in our minds forever.
You can do this too.
You can go ahead and create a book right now. Create your first book with some photo magic moment memories and leave it for the people that you love most.
So, two things so far, really simple:
1. You and I can choose to live in awesome everyday. You can put a smile on your face and live in gratitude and;
2. You can capture your life. You can write it down. Write your book! Don’t let your story go untold. Make your movie. Create your photo album. At the very minimum, capture your life in your journal.
NUMBER THREE: LIVE OUT YOUR DREAMS
I believe that is why you are here. I believe that’s the difference between living a life that’s an example and living a life that is a warning.
Don’t let your dreams die inside of you but instead, live out your dreams. Fulfill your destiny.
I believe that your destiny is about contributing and giving to others.
I believe, it’s about passing on your greatness by you stepping up and stepping into your best and about passing it on and paying it forward.
I believe you should make sure that you leave this life on EMPTY. Let it be said, that you gave it everything you’ve got!
This is about you turning every problem and every challenge into your benefit.
This is about that silly example of how you look at a glass of water.
Is it half full? Or is that half empty?
You know, a negative person might say it’s half empty. They might even say there’s not enough water on that glass. They might even say, there is no glass!
But I believe, we have a glass that is an endless ocean of opportunity… And that you and I have the opportunity to jump in with both feet!!!
So make sure we don’t let anything… DON’T YOU LET ANYTHING HOLD YOU BACK!
You have an idea. You have a dream.
You have a vision. You have the opportunity everyday…
Don’t let yourself stay in neutral where you don’t like act on that idea… Choose to move into action! You can choose to live in greatness every single day.
You can choose to capture your life. You can choose to live out your dreams, to pay it forward.
So I challenge you to go out there and become your best. And remember, as long as you are alive, you have the power to rise. I mean everyday, above ground, is a good day. Right?!
So if you can look up, you can get up. So eyes up, chest up, step up, go out and take your life and your business to the next level and I can’t wait to see you again next week.