Share Newsletter | Leading By Sharing | Episode 5 | Friday, April 23rd, 2024
Anchor your life to legacy-value
Don’t do anything that offers no legacy-value.
It’s a waste of the adventure called life.
It is showing contempt for the opportunity to live.
To make the most of your life, focus on adding legacy-value.
What is legacy-value?
I define legacy-value as the value you add to the life of others as a legacy.
It refers to what others gain from or through you that makes them continue that pattern in their personal lives.
That is, they commit themselves to adding value to the lives of others in the same dimension and of a higher order.
Legacy-value activates a commitment to adding value cultivated in everyone you are opportune to lead and impact.
It is a kind of value that each beneficiary goes on to add to others out of conviction after benefitting from you.
Through legacy-value, you create a lasting impact in all you do to and through others.
Legacy-value is people-focused.
It has to be since no contribution is worth celebrating that adds no value to people.
A principle that promotes legacy-value
"A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it. [6] Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture. [7] Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants. [8] Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!" When he had said this, he called out, "Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand."
I love the parable of the farmer told by Jesus.
It is foundational.
If you don’t understand it, you are unlikely to understand all other parables.
Jesus said so Himself when He wondered how come His disciples did not understand it.
This parable laid out a principle that supports anchoring your life to the pursuit of legacy-value all through life.
The farmer went out to plant his seed.
He was intentional.
His purpose or end-game was to realize a harvest.
With a harvest, he was sure of possessing an abundance of fruits.
He was also aware that the fruits would guarantee continuity, bearing seeds that could be planted.
The planting of the newly produced seeds could be done either by him or others, or both.
The farmer’s gesture of seed planting is in pursuit of legacy-value.
His work will never be forgotten because of the value chain that it will naturally set up, once it succeeds.
That’s the reason that farmers do what they can to realize a harvest of fruits.
It’s also the reason why they hardly tolerate trees that fail to produce fruits.
Recall that Jesus illustrated this through the parable of the barren fig tree when He insisted that the fig tree that failed to produce fruits should be cut down.
He would not tolerate exerting valuable effort and resources on activities that will not produce legacy value.
The farmer’s gesture of seed planting is in pursuit of legacy-value.
You know them by their fruits
Focus on ‘fruits’ identifies those who pursue legacy-value.
A good (healthy) tree cannot bear bad (worthless) fruit, nor can a bad (diseased) tree bear excellent fruit [worthy of admiration]. [19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. [20] Therefore, you will fully know them by their fruits.
You should be identified by your fruits.
The implication is that our lives count only when we produce fruits.
Focus in life should only be on realizing legacy-value.
Anything short of that makes life meaningless.
No one reckons with a farmer who is unfruitful.
All that a farmer has to show for the expertise is the harvest produced, not the effort put in towards realizing a harvest.
When God blessed you and me, His command to us was to ‘be fruitful!’
So, has that been your focus?
Is your life anchored to the pursuit of legacy-value?
How to anchor your life to legacy-value.
You can’t anchor your life to the pursuit of legacy-value just by wishing or knowing that it’s the most productive way to live.
You have to be trained to live that way.
Think again about the parable of the farmer (sower).
It was a ‘farmer’ who went out to plant his seed!
It wasn’t just anyone.
The ‘farmer’ refers to someone well-trained in the business of farming.
Without being trained as a farmer, there will be little hope of realizing a harvest.
Only true ‘farmers’ can meaningfully pursue a harvest-focused lifestyle.
You must be trained to focus on a lifestyle driven by legacy-value.
You must be trained to become a leader.
Good leaders train you to be focused on legacy-value.
They are focused on legacy-value.
When Jesus told the parable of the tower project, also known as the parable of counting the cost, He used it as an illustration to emphasize the demands that following a leader makes on followers.
And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. [28] For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it-
You will see that He likened following a leader, the purpose of which is to make another leader out of the follower, to a building project.
The leader ‘builds’ the follower into a bonafide leader!
A building project has legacy-value, especially if it's a tower!
While the follower ‘owns’ the project, it is the leader who helps to ‘build.’
The value the leader adds to the follower makes the latter into a leader also.
The new leader is now ‘wired’ to go on to add value to others who will follow.
Without being ‘wired’ by a leader, no follower will possess the capacity to pursue legacy-value.
The value that your leadership should add to others must be legacy in nature!
The value that you receive from the leaders you follow should equally be legacy in nature!
The value that your leadership should add to others must be legacy in nature! The value that you receive from the leaders you follow should equally be legacy in nature!
Leadership is about adding legacy-value to other people’s lives and teaching them to anchor their lives to the pursuit of legacy-value.
The beneficiaries of legacy-value are their people.
True leaders operate with legacy in view!
You should do so as well, starting today!
END.
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***Note: In the spirit of sharing, please share this piece with others to add legacy-value to their lives. They will bless your life forever.
Thanks for carrying the spirit of Share Newsletter forward.
