Legacy. What's yours?
I’ve been coaching a young man through my 5 Days to Getting Ahead by Being More, Not Less, of You challenge recently and he taught me something unexpected about what “getting ahead” really means.
For years, I’d associated “getting ahead” with progress in the professional sense: promotions, influence, recognition, stability. But for him, getting ahead wasn’t about wealth, status or titles. It was about being a better father. A better husband. A better teacher. In his words, it was about fulfilling the trust he had been given.
That really resonated with me.
Because, in another coaching conversation, a different client remarked that they never truly appreciated their father's greatness until after he passed. And this had me thinking about how both life and legacy aren’t races as we might imply. They’re relationships.
And, while legacy may be what we leave behind, we achieve that by what we live out today - the small, consistent ways we show up for what (and who) matters most.
It reminded me that success, much like legacy, is often misunderstood.
Redefining success
His reflection on "getting ahead" made me pause and think about how I define success. Not just as a coach, but as a person building something meaningful.
There’s this quiet pressure we all feel: the expectation that impact must be visible, measurable, immediate. But some of the most important work we’ll ever do happens out of sight. It’s in the unseen hours, the conversations that shift someone’s direction, the courage to keep showing up even when the outcome is still forming and to say no to some things so you can say yes to the right ones.
I’ve learned (and am still learning) that legacy isn’t something you build once you’ve “made it.” It’s something you cultivate while you’re making it.
Legacy in the making
When we take the focus off legacy being about the final product - the big title, the overflowing bank account or the public recognition - then we can focus in on the quiet choices that accumulate over time:
Choosing integrity when no one’s watching.
Choosing generosity when it’s inconvenient.
Choosing to keep going when the results aren’t visible… yet.
Because here’s the truth: sometimes, living your purpose feels like planting seeds in hard soil. The growth isn’t instant. But just because you can’t see it yet doesn’t mean it’s not happening.
And that’s what I remind myself on the hard days - the ones where the vision is clear but the path feels steep. Legacy isn’t built in leaps. It’s built in steps.
A reflective close
So, here’s something to think about this week:
What does getting ahead mean to you?
How do you measure enough?
And what kind of legacy are you building today (not someday)?
Because the real legacy isn’t merely the outcome. It’s the courage to keep showing up for the work that matters, even when no one’s clapping yet.
Go on. Take the next step.
