When you leave this earth, how will you be remembered? You might not have thought about this before. However, it will happen to all of us, and our influence on others is more important than you might realise. Let’s talk about the importance of leaving a legacy and changing your life for the better as of today.

Of course, nobody likes to think about the end of our existence. However, it's a fact of life. Even still, if you are careful to leave a legacy, you are ensured an influence that lives on long after your death. But what exactly does all this mean? We'll explore that and more below.

Leaving a legacy has a variety of meanings to different people. In essence, it means what will people think of you when you’ve left earth? What will people remember you for? Will you leave a positive impact on others and earth when you leave? Nobody wants to be forgotten or thought of negatively, so ensure that doesn’t happen.

In order to do this, you need to figure out what’s important in your life. We all have our own purpose on earth. Do you know what yours is? If not, create one. There are a variety of ways to leave a legacy, but you have to make this decision.

You might be wondering why leaving a legacy is important if you’re no longer here. This argument is a lot more than people’s perception of you, but your influence on others. By focusing on leaving a legacy, it encourages us to live a life with purpose. We begin to think about our actions and thoughts. It inspires love and positivity in ourselves to ensure that have something to wake up for every day. We’re not just talking about accomplishments here, but a deeper meaning. It’s important to have a positive impact on others and change someone’s life. Every challenge and excitement in your life leaves an imprint in someone else’s life.

Leaving a legacy isn’t an overnight task, and you won’t achieve it just by changing your thinking. Your mind is the first point, but actions must follow. Picture your 80^th birthday. Do you imagine you’ll have lived your life in the way you always wanted to? By looking ahead to your future, you can gain perspective on which direction you’re going in.

Now that we’ve established the importance of leaving a legacy, let’s take a look at some methods to help you. The list is more exhaustive than what we’ve covered. However, we wanted to focus on the most important steps to take in the beginning.

When thinking of leaving a legacy, it’s important to think about your core existence. What’s the point of being alive if you don’t enjoy the time you spend on earth? If you imagine that today is your last day, are there things you’d do differently? Most of us would change things we’ve done or add more adventures to our life. However, when you’re gone, you can’t turn back time and do things differently. Rather than pondering about how you’d feel if you didn’t live your life, live it! Surely you want people to look back on your legacy and feel comforted that you lived life to the maximum.

What exactly does it mean to live life to the maximum? All of us have different lifestyles, opinions, attitudes and backgrounds. We can only make the best of a situation. Putting it simply, there’s no point in living if you don’t enjoy your days. We don’t want to put fear into you, but make you realize that living is an amazing thing we all take for granted. Rather than dwelling on things which have gone wrong, embrace positivity. Add more positive actions and people to your life in order to inspire you. Achieve the things in life which fill you with passion. Reduce doing the things you despise.

When thinking of leaving a legacy, consider how you spend your time with other people. Are you honest and open about your feeling towards others? Or do you hide away from your emotions because you’re scared of the result? Everyone has feelings and opinions they can’t help, although you can control your actions. Live with your heart on your sleeve and with pure honesty. Now, this doesn’t mean spreading hate to people, as this contrasts with our first point. Instead, we’re talking about telling people you love them more often. An open spirit is admirable and people respect others who are authentic and pure.

Instead of focusing on what other people think about you all the time, focus on yourself. People like others who are honest and real, not people who are fake to please others. Share your triumphs and failures. This inspires others and makes others feel normal that we all go through good and bad experiences. Be transparent in order to develop healthy relationships with others. Never fake your emotions or you’ll end up living a fake life you’re not happy with. Believe in yourself and trust your instincts and emotions. Don’t hide away from who you are.

We’re all guilty of not spending enough time with our loved ones. We use excuses such as being “too busy” or “too tired” to participate in family and friend events. However, when considering leaving a legacy, you want people to remember you as someone who always made the effort. Give people the greatest gift by giving you. Money cannot buy your love or personality. People appreciate when you take time out of your life to share a piece of you with others. Your presence is important to people. How can you expect others to love you if you’re not there for them?

Spending time with those you love is one of the most important things in life. Instead of making excuses and thinking about yourself, spend time with others. The last thing you want is to have huge regrets about not surrounding yourself with those you love. Open your heart to love others in order to receive love. You might need to restructure your life or erase bad habits to achieve this. Get up earlier to add more hours to your day. Go out of your way more often to make the effort with family and friends. Get in touch with people you lost touch with.

We all have beauty in our lives which we need to remind ourselves of often. Life can get so crazy and hectic that we forget about what really matters. Every now and then, look around and appreciate everything you have. Don’t just think and then forget. Really sit there and process every single thing you have to be grateful for. Include the people you care about and even the small things. Perhaps this can include surrounding yourself in nature. Or, maybe personal accomplishments in your life. Whatever they are, these will be personalize and unique to everyone.

Some may say that you can appreciate your life when you witness the misfortunes of others. This might be true, but we don’t believe in analyzing someone else’s life to find gratitude in yours. However, this might be an effective strategy to help you find guidance. Use reminders in the form of post-it notes. You can even form the habit of thinking about your gratitude every morning. Start your day with positivity and love to improve the rest of your day. If you don’t appreciate what surrounds you, it becomes hard to live life to the fullest. Instead, you begin to compare your existence to others which we all know is unhealthy.

We hope you enjoyed our four points on leaving a legacy. This list isn’t exhaustive of the other ways to find purpose in your life. However, it’s a great step in finding guidance.

We’d love to hear about ways you plan on leaving a legacy. How are you dedicating your life to happiness, love and passion? Leave your thoughts and suggestions in the comments to inspire others.

Related Article: ​Know the Different Types of Investors Before You Put Your Money to Work