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ISSN
1943-8133
Volume 2009-10, Issue 1
October 13, 2009
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Welcome to our newest
readers and thanks kindly to those of you who have sent
comments. Feedback is always appreciated, as are your
referrals. Feel free to check out more articles stories and
the LJ archive on the Creating Legacy Network blog,
and leave your
comments! It's great to know what you're thinking, wondering about and
how you're making an impact in your corner of the world - I'd love to
hear more!
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 Well
we're in to autumn and most
everyone who's back in school is
settled into their classes. Trees are changing color - one of
my favorite natural events - and the first snows are painting the peaks
of my favorite mountains around Lake Tahoe and along the Wasatch
Front. Fleece jackets are coming out. Down in the
Keys, it's subtler. The sun and moon have moved south of U.S.
1 and the rays of light shine at a different angle, creating different
colors in the sky especially at dawn and dusk. It's getting cool enough
there to put in our gardens for the
winter.
Autumn
is a season that reminds me change is the constant in our world
and our lives. How we master changes is a key to happiness,
and managing change is how we build and grow things. That all
happens one step at a time, fortunately, though it can feel
overwhelming sometimes and bigger than we can handle. That's
the time to turn to someone else for help working through the steps of
what you want to create. It doesn't happen overnight, but it
can be a fun and ordered process that tames the doubt and
anxiety. Big journeys start with a single step, and can be
much more effective and enjoyable with a guide.
 Our
7
Steps to Creating Your Legacy
program began last week and the
first session introduced some amazing minds, big hearts and kind souls,
all eager to do something to make the world a better place.
They have come from all across the U.S. and Canada (we're
international, woo hoo!) and have incredible and truly inspiring ideas
to pursue. In delivering this program for the first time,
these participants are helping me create a part of my legacy, too - by
allowing me to provide my concepts and materials and guide them through
a process of discovering what they value, who they really are and what
they uniquely bring that the world needs, and how to structure and
build on that work. As I learn more about their projects, I
look forward to featuring here some of their pursuits.
Mostly, I am grateful to be in the company of these courageous
individuals willing to dig into some good work, because work it will
be, no doubt about that. But broken down into smaller chunks
it is doable, no matter how big the project. And there is a
big difference between good work that can become great work, and just
hard work, in terms of the results produced from consciously creating
something that feels important to you, that you're excited to be
involved in and that provides a sense of joy and pride as its personal
rewards. Such rewards are as precious as gold and what making
money alone will never buy. Do they need operating capital or
revenue? Sure in order to be viable and
sustainable. But they will produce far more true
wealth in the world. And I can't wait
to share the wealth with you!
Cheers,
Dolly
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"Sacred
Activism is the marriage of two noblest fires of the human soul.
The fire of the mystic's passion for God with the activist's action for
justice. When these two fires marry, they birth a third fire that of
divine love and wisdom in action.
I believe this third fire is destined to transform the world."
-- Andrew Harvey
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Just What IS a Legacy
Anyway?
We've
talked a lot about various elements of legacy, and it might be helpful
to give you the definition of it that we use.
There is a traditional definition of legacy, which is the province of
estate and financial planning and major philanthropic efforts - that
regular folks like you and I may not believe apply to us! But
developing a legacy is a choice available to everyone. And there are a
number of misconceptions which lead to the erroneous belief that it
is not, such as:
- Legacies
are only left at the time of death. To the contrary, some of
the greatest legacies get built during lifetime. There is more time to
create something really great, the earlier in life you start.
And this misconception makes most people not want to think about it at
all because they would rather think about living than their eventual
mortality. (All the more reason to start while you're still
young and healthy enough to enjoy the experience!)
- I'm
not wealthy enough to create a legacy. There are any number
of resources you can bring to bear in the process of defining and
designing a contribution to build and leave for the benefit of
others. You might be surprised by just how much you have to
offer and how much you can develop. Hint: it's more than
about just money, assets and property.
- My
kids will inherit everything I have. Well, they can, or they
can receive a portion of your estate and you can devote some of it to
building a legacy project. Legacy is not just about inheritance and
what others will do with your wealth or resources after you're
gone. You can involve your family in the legacy building, too
- what better way for you all to learn and communicate about financial
and estate planning related issues, as well as the meaning and
satisfaction of contribution?
Traditional legacies
are
legally defined as the money and property left at the end of life to
others - to your heirs (family members or other individuals or
institutions), who, hopefully in keeping with your wishes, decide what
to do with it after you're gone.
To contrast, creating your legacy is a living process
that may involve
your money and assets; other individuals or institutions; or your time,
effort and enthusiasm - and possibly a combination of them
all. It may well involve estate, financial and business
planning - depending upon the idea and the structure needed to carry
that out. Creating legacy is when you consciously coordinate all that -
and are involved in personally shaping your contribution while fully
alive to enjoy seeing the benefits it produces.
Here at Creating Legacy we use a broader definition, but simply the
term as we use it has a few distinct though expansive components.
First, legacy is about giving your unique gifts in a way that is
authentically you. It is about nurturing and giving back, or
better stated giving forward.
Those of us who have the
privilege of owning a business or professional practice, have been
given many gifts on the road to where we are. And if you have
a college education, a computer and a cell phone, according to the
Global Rich List www.globalrichlist.com
you are likely in the highest wealth category in the world.
(Check it out). And that's great. It is an abundant
universe and your prosperity - achieved with integrity - provides an
example to others of what is possible.
There are a lot of ways to give your gifts. It may include
your finances and assets, but maybe more important is to capture who
you are, what you love, what you think is important. That may
include those things you do, that you do so well and so naturally, you
likely think are no big deal - and they might even be fun or enjoyable.
That's even better. Somebody needs that from you.
Maybe a lot of people.
Second, this broader concept of creating your legacy incorporates the
idea of living it, being engaged in developing it during your life and
as part of the purposeful work you came to the planet to do.
To contrast with just giving away your possessions at death, this is
something you will build or bring to fruition and be involved with
during your life -- is a creation.
A lot of people don't think of
themselves as creative, but humans have the capacity to manifest
something from nothing - to take a thought or idea and turn it into
something tangible. And that "something" can benefit others
because they then access or take part in it.
Traditional legacies incorporate family - particularly children or
grandchildren if you have them. And creating a legacy project
can involve them, too. Many people consider doing so because
they are child free, either by choice or circumstance, or because they
have raised successful and independently functioning children. Creating
a living legacy is something that incorporates all the resources you
choose to utilize, and your life energy, to build something significant
during your lifetime, rather than let others do it after you are gone,
and may well involve your family. And your "legacy creation"
can take any number of forms and sizes - the types and structures it
can take are seemingly endless, and yet, models exist that you can
emulate.
Third, to be a legacy-level project, whatever the form, it is something
that from the outset you know you will step away from. At
some point you will let others carry on the work, expand it, bring it
to more people in keeping with its defined mission - which may or may
not include your family members. Appropriate to your scope
and form it will be operated in a business-like, financially sound
fashion, so it remains viable and can be sustainable and enduring - and
benefit as many people as possible.
Within this definition of legacy there are numerous variations, as
unique as the individuals creating them - that can be brought to
fruition within or outside of traditional estate planning.
What ideas do you have for something you might create that will become
that tangible thing you leave behind, that benefits the world, and for
which you want to be remembered?
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Digital World Legacies
I am
particularly enamored with websites and blogs as platforms for legacy
projects because are stimulating from both visual and verbal
perspectives, can deliver their material to the world in moving and
still pictures, incredible graphics, and the written word.
They can be informative and helpful and are easily accessible as a
platform for adding value to the world. They can be movies
and books at the same time - with both messages and calls to
action.
With my strong interest in the importance of human-ecosystem harmony
and in protecting the viability of our natural world, I am particularly
impressed lately with a couple of digital world legacies. One
is called Treehugger and the other the Environment News
Service. Both started small and have grown to have major
impact.
 The
Environment News Service (http://www.ens-newswire.com/)
was
established in 1990 as the original daily international wire service
for environmental issues. Editor-in-Chief Sunny Lewis and
Managing Editor Jim Crabtree own and operate the business, whose goal
is to provide the most up to date environmental news in a fair and
balanced way. Numerous correspondents worldwide, who are often experts
in their respective fields provide news stories are carried by hundreds
of other services. As stated on their site, they cover
environmental issues and events in areas such as: legislation,
politics, conferences, lawsuits, international agreements,
demonstrations, science and technology, public health, air quality,
drinking water, oceans and marine life, land use, wildlife, forests,
natural disasters, the indoor environment, hazardous materials, toxics,
nuclear issues, renewable energy, recycling, transportation, and
environmental economics. I'm a fan of their great work like a
kid in a candy store.
Treehugger (www.Treehugger.com)
was founded by Graham Hill. Trained in architecture and
industrial design, he combined his skills as a web-developer and his
interest in sustainability to develop Treehugger into what is probably
the premier environmental resource and community on the web.
He was joined by internet and
software pioneer, Ken Rother, who helped some of Canada's largest
financial institutions develop an internet presence. In four
years, the team they assembled grew the operation into a highly
respected, visible and visited environmental information source on the
internet, making environmentally friendly information and products
available to millions. They recently became part of Planet Green,
multi-platform, global environmental initiative of Discovery
Communications.
Both enterprises serve a socially important purpose for all us humans
who are part of and mutually affected by impacts to our natural
world. They have been structured in a way that the value they
provide is able to endure for generations, and are currently making an
important contribution to how we live and will need to live in concert
with our environment, an arena where greater harmony is so important.
----------------------------------------
Email
me about someone you know who is living or building a legacy. We'd love
to feature their story. Maybe it's you?!
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OCTOBER 24 IS MAKE A
DIFFERENCE DAY!
HOW WILL YOU PARTICIPATE IN MAKING A DIFFERENCE?
The
annual Make
A Difference Day holiday
started by USA Today is in its
19th year. Check it out to see how it's grown around the
world and the sort of things people are doing to honor the concept of
contribution and giving back.
See what others have done,
check out their idea generator, or fill out an entry form to register
your project (there are even awards)! http://www.usaweekend.com/diffday/index.html
 This
year, a new international event is
also being held on that
Saturday - the first International Climate Action Day sponsored by 350.org.
It is intended to highlight the need to do whatever
we can, on both a large and small scale, to bring the level of carbon
in our atmosphere back down to 350 parts per million (ppm).
We are already past that level, what scientists consider safe for
humans and the planet, at 389 ppm. And it will continue to
climb from our cars, factories and energy production methods,
worldwide, unless we do something about it. Other countries are
emulating the practices of western countries, and we need to help them
discover and develop alternatives (and do so here).
In the FL Keys, Sanctuary Friends Foundation - an organization I serve
as board chair - along with the Green Living Energy and Education
organization (GLEE) and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary staff,
is hosting a mini film festival to showcase the issues and what people
can do. Many other projects and events are occurring
worldwide. Check out what's happening in your community at
the 350.org
site - or create your own happening and post it
there!
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I
like to let you know about colleagues who are doing interesting
things. Here are some fabulous products and services of
others that you may find helpful:
IS BLOGGING IN YOUR
FUTURE? Then Become A Blogging Maniac
While creating your own web-log or "blog" can be simple to do, there
are several resources to choose from and it can even be free do it
yourself experience, simple is not always easy or free from
confusion. There are now many ways to create a blog, with
numerous applications you can use to create a very sophisticated web
presence - and still do it yourself. The key is to learn to
do it right! That's where Bea Fields' Become a Blogging
Maniac program comes in.
I can speak from personal experience
and can't recommend this highly enough. It is a comprehensive
hands on program designed to teach business owners how to use a blog to
build an online network, sell products and services and build
credibility. Includes pdf workbooks, video and audio
tutorials and audio downloads. And Bea is an absolute master
of the craft.
The next Become
A Blogging Maniac program
runs on Thursdays from
October 22, 2009-January 28, 2010 from 12:00-2:00 p.m. Eastern (There
will not be meetings November 26, December 24 or December 31)
All
that for $97! (Price is going up in 2010).
For more information and to register, click
here.
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 Dolly
M. Garlo, RN, JD,
PCC is the founder and president of Thrive!!®
Inc.
and Creating Legacy™. It is a company devoted to empowering
business owners and entrepreneurially minded professionals make their
positive impact in the world - with joy and meaning.
For 30 + years Dolly has supported clients in many different arenas -
healthcare, law and business. While she's currently best known for her
expertise in business development and professional career transition,
her clients, members of Generation G (for generosity!) share that her
biggest impact comes from her philosophy.
That philosophy is to design your work and create an exceptional life
by making sure that all your actions reflect your personal integrity
and values, greatest level of wellness, highest and best contribution,
and individual sense of abundance - for which you can feel exceedingly
grateful. These, Dolly says, are the keys to true, lasting satisfaction
and happiness from which you can also "make a positive difference that
lasts for generations."
You can learn more about Dolly and her programs, presentations and
products at CreatingLegacyNetwok.com
and AllThrive.com.
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You
may absolutely share this newsletter with people you think may enjoy
it. When doing so, please forward it in its entirety, including our
contact and copyright information.
Thanks
and enjoy!
The
Legacy Journal newsletter is written by Dolly M. Garlo: http://www.CreatingLegacyNetwork.com.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to: Dolly@CreatingLegacy.com.
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