How to live a legacy lifestyle - dr Gustav Gous

How to live a legacy lifestyle

  

-  dr Gustav Gous

Selfish people only live for themselves; truly great people live beyond themselves. Selfish people are abusing people and the earth’s resourses for personal gain. Great people live a good life for themselves, to be in a position to help others to achieve the same. William Shakespeare said, “What man is a man, if he does not make the world a better place?”

Probably most important question in life is: What is your legacy going to be when you finally leave the earth? As a wake-up call, ask yourself about your current reality as far as four aspects are concerned:

People: Are they better off after they met me or now hurting and bleeding?

My family: Are they better off or do they need therapy because of me?

Nature: Is it still in a good shape or will be more polluted and worse off after I have left?

Society: Did I leave my country/group/community in better shape or a worse off? Did I put structures or organisations in place that will benefit others?

Remember: Inheritance is the money you leave behind, a legacy is what you leave behind in people, nature and society.

Swami Vivekananda puts it like this, “The great secret of true success, of true happiness, is this: The man or woman who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful.”

Funeral speeches:

The ‘legacy question’ is the one question that other people will answer: After your funeral will they have good or bad things to say about you, or will they say nothing, just to be polite? I always motivate people to make it easy for the pastor who must bury them. Please make it easy for him/her and give him/her something to say!

The good news is, you are in control and you can determine what they are going to say through good life planning. One way to do this is through reverse engineering: Begin with the end in mind. Ask yourself,” What do I want the following people to say at my funeral?”

My partner, my child/children, my work colleagues, my friend, my competitors, a representative from the community, the President of my country, the General Secretary of the United Nations, and God, who gave me the gift of life:

Design your life 

Design your life with this in mind and prioritize your actions accordingly, to live up to it. Live the way you want to be remembered. The best wat to do it is to ask every day: If all that people have to remember me by, is just my actions, attitudes, and words of today – how will I live today. That is a sobering thought and enough to assure that you have a great legacy.

People who have left great legacies on earth are not only the great industrialists like Ford, Nobel or Kellogg, who create foundations and big trust funds for charitable purposes. Or Warren Buffet or Bill Gates. The legacy people are also normal people like you and me who realised there is yet another level beyond success – the level of ‘significance’ where you live beyond your own needs to go to the next level to serve others. Albert Pike said:  'What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.’

My call to action is: “Live a good life for yourself to be in a position to give it away to others.'  Work for a cause, not for applause. Live life to express, not to impress. Don't strive to make your presence noticed, just make your absence felt. Leave not only the money, but also the legacy. 

______

If you want more information on corporate interventions or how to make counselling/coaching appointments or book dr Gustav Gous for motivational talks, contact admin@gustavgous.co.za 

If you want  interventions for your team: Contact +27 12 3455931   0r  0845138312 (Speak to Karen) or email gustav@gustavgous.co.za to discuss possibilities. 

Disclaimer:    Important notice to you as the reader:  Although the life coach (dr Gustav Gous) provide certain recommendations, the sole and final responsibility for decision-making remains your own and that the life coach or anybody associated to him and his company Short Walk Seminars Pty Ltd cannot be held responsible for any of your choices and reactions. You, the reader, must take full responsibility for your life, reactions and choices.  

www.gustavgousonline.com 

Dr Gustav Gous  is an International Motivational Speaker and Executive Life Coach with experience on 5 continents. He 

was the in-house counselor for the petro-chemical company Sasol for 9 years. He is known for his Transformational leadership programmes on Robben Island, titled the “Short Walk to Freedom”. 

He is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and past President of the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa and a member of the APSS (Asia Professional Speakers Singapore).  Currently he is heading up the Diversity Intelligence Institute, specializing in rolling out Diversity Intelligence interventions for 

international companies. His leadership caps does for leadership what De Bono's thinking hats did for creativity and problem solving. His Coaching programme on national Radio in South Africa RSG FM 100-104 "Fiks vir die lewe" touches the lives of many South Africans.  gustav@gustavgous.co.za    drgous@iafrica.com     www.gustavgous.co.za , www.diviin.com ,

Follow him on Twitter: @GustavGous  or on Facebook and LinkedIn .