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

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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,