Celebrity Deaths in 2011. What’s YOUR Legacy Going to Be?

by |

This article is a serious one. It deals with legacy, purpose, possibility…and passion: Your Legacy. Your business’ (or life’s) purpose. The possibilities for your business’ future. And, finally, the passion, emotional conviction and “grit” to make outrageously wonderful things REALLY happen for yourself or business. Confused? That’s OK – work with me, here, for a minute. So, I’m reading last week’s Huffington Post “Celebrity” section on AOL, right? (Right!) It features a story about an actor who’d just died. That story was interesting. But MORE interesting was the story that followed. It was a listing (and description) of 121 other celebrities who had died in 2011. Now in case you think I’m trying to take this discussion down some dark, macabre road – I really am NOT. (Stay with me here…) My purpose is actually uplifting, inspiring, energizing to both your heart and soul! So, I’m reading all 121 listings and I got to thinking that — each one of these men and women dedicated their lives, their careers, their sense of possibility, passion and purpose to their various business, sports, political, medical, and/or arts/entertainment and academic careers – AND they achieved mammoth accomplishments. They each changed people’s lives with their work, efforts, vision, convictions and passionate purpose. Let’s quickly scan a few dozen of these impressive icons — so your emotional juices will get “goose bumps,” too (like mine did). Dick King-Smith, children’s book author; Peter Yates, director; Don Kirshner, music promoter; Sargent Shriver, former Peace Corp Director/Vice Presidential nominee; Major Richard Winters, decorated WWII veteran and leader of the “Band of Brothers;” Jack LaLanne, fitness pioneer; Tura Satana, actor/exotic dancer; George Shearing, jazz piano legend; Duke Snider, baseball player; Mikhail Simonov, Russian Sukhoi fighter jet designer; Geraldine Ferraro, first female Vice Presidential candidate; Betty Ford, former First Lady/founder of the Betty Ford Clinic; Sidney Lumet, director; William Nunn-Lipscomb, Jr., Nobel Prize-winning chemist; Pietro Ferrero, Jr., CEO of Ferrero Chocolate. Let’s continue the list: Chris Hondros, photojournalist; Phoebe Snow, singer; Orlando Bosch, anti-Castro freedom fighter; Sir Henry Cooper, boxing legend’s Jackie Cooper, actor; Arthur Laurents, playwright/director; Lidia Gueiler, first female president of Bolivia; Burt Reinhardt, CNN President; Derek Boogaard, professional hockey player; Severino “Steve” Ballesteros, professional golfer; Harmon Killebrew, Hall of Fame baseball player; Joseph Brooks, composer, Xavier Tondo, cyclist; M.F. Husain, artist; Lucien Freud, painter; Elliott Handler, co-founder of Mattel; Ralph Marvin Steinman, Nobel Peace Prize recipient/immunologist; Stephen Paul Jobs, co-founder of Apple; Norman Ramsey, physicist and Nobel Prize winner; Bill Keane, cartoonist; Ted Forstman, businessman/philanthropist; Joe Simon, comic book writer; Christopher Hitchens, author journalist; Boris Chertok, Russian rocket designer; Michael S. Hart, inventor of the e-book. Do I really need to continue? Bottom line? Lesson? Implications? Moral? IT’S THIS: None of us are victims. No one needs to be constrained in their pursuit of possibility, purpose, passion. Doing is NOT thinking. Or restated, thinking about something is NOT doing it! “Doing” is all about taking passionate, meaningful, committed Herculean action. Purpose is having an “ideal” that’s infinitely more auspicious and transcendent than merely making money. It’s about doing things that are meaningful, transformative and impact the marketplace or society in some positively evocative way. Passion is the joy, vision, hope for others and animated reality — you focus all your efforts on manifesting. Soooo…my concluding thought is THIS: Have you really, truly, honestly put EVERYTHING you could, EVERYTHING you should, EVERYTHING possible into making your business/career pursuit the most successful, impactful, distinctive, value-based contribution of benefit it could truly be to your market? Remember that…reading things like this, attending seminars/conferences, purchasing courses, books, videos, CD’s – that’s all mere “preparation.” The key to achieving anything/everything is what Einstein said – “Nothing happens until something/someone moves forward.” Action, forward, purpose-driven action is what makes great people great! You can probably do a lot more with who you are, what you’ve got and the possibilities before you. Think about it. Regards,