Top 3 Timeless Lessons

Last week I met with a friend I hadn’t seen in over ten years, someone who taught me so much about life. Amazing man.

Captain Rob Newson is now a Navy Fellow, serving on the Council on Foreign
Relations. A very high honor for strategic thinkers. Only four or five military
fellows are selected each year.

I first met Rob when he was Lieutenant Commander of Navy SEAL Team Seven. Our friendship resulted in him writing a letter to his then-teenage children titled Choose to Do What Is Right, Always.

Rob’s letter was one of thousands I collected from people all over the globe for my fourth book, What Is Your Life’s Work? The idea: Write a one- to three-page letter to someone you love about what truly matters in life and at work.
These became known as legacy letters — for the legacy the writers wished
to leave behind.

Fantastic insights from all! Like…
• Rob made sure that Aubrey, Chelsea and Craig knew that it’s never too late
to do the right thing
• John and Helen Harvey and their kids all wrote letters about pulling together
as a family, after John — a senior executive at American Express, who helped clear everyone out of their headquarters on 9/11 and away from the falling
twin towers — was laid off due to cutbacks
• 19 year-old Hoang Thi Ai wrote from the slums of Hanoi City, Vietnam about the joy of hardship, as she awoke at 1 AM every day to make tofu for her
family to sell
• Linda Stone, then a senior exec at Microsoft, wrote her top ten rules for women. (A powerful couple-page version of what another female tech exec would later call leaning in.)

What most fascinated me and the letter-writers was that they took on the
challenge to pay forward to their loved ones life’s most valuable lessons,
yet they found they also got something back. Nearly every one said they
learned more about their own priorities, choices and lessons learned by writing them down, and had new and amazing conversations with loved ones after
sharing those letters.

(Want to write your own letter? Go here for step-by-step how tos.)

After meeting with Rob last week, I re-read many of those letters wondering: With another decade of life experience and after asking thousands more about how they’ve made major life choices and about the legacy they wanted to leave… What are the top three timeless takeaways?

1. Your Legacy is Deeper Than You Think It Is
Like George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, too many of us underestimate
the impact we have had on the world around us. But unlike George, you don’t have to jump off a bridge to discover the powerful web of events and people
you have affected. Spending time writing down and sharing what truly matters
to you will make that impact abundantly clear.

2. Too Many of Us Live An Unexamined Life
I have spent the past ten years asking many people variations of “What
makes you…you?” Most every person is super-appreciative of the opportunity
to reflect on that question. Most every person who wrote a letter or answered that question said they got more from the exercise than they ever would
have imagined. With conversation and examination comes clarity of ideas and purpose. With clarity of purpose comes greater commitment and passion about that purpose. With greater commitment comes greater meaning and fulfillment. Lead an examined life. You’ll be glad you did!

3. You Have an Infinite Well of Courage, Joy and Serenity Within You
Many of us encounter more disruption and chaotic change before our morning coffee than our ancestors may have encountered in a year! Crazy times!
The courage you’re seeking to deal with it all? The calmness you need to
let it flow past you and around you? All you need, and more, is within you.
Your own experiences give you all that you need. Release that courage by
sharing your experiences. Call upon those past moments to create all you
will ever need to face the future!

What’s Your Legacy?
Tell the world! Let us know!

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