If you’ve followed me for any length of time, rest assured you have heard me say, “my career was feeding my family but starving our souls.”  After years focused on being the BEST at my career, my mentor asked me – “who benefits from your success”.  I probably spent 15 minutes explaining how my family reaped the benefits of my success, to which my mentor replied, “They don’t care about the money you make or the accolades you receive.  What do you think matters to them?”

It was like a shot to the heart because I realized she was absolutely correct!  My handsome groom and four incredible children didn’t care that I brought home multiple six figures or that I closed multi-million-dollar transactions, all they cared about was TIME.  Their definition of time was creating memories and moments that money couldn’t buy.

As I began to build my life declaration for this phase of my life, I realized that values and beliefs are important but so was the “WHO!”

It was an “ugly cry” kind of evening when I finally forced myself to sit down, put pen to paper and ask myself these tough questions; “who am I trying to impact”, “do the people who matter most, know they matter most”, “what legacy am I living”?

Legacy [leg–uh-see] Something handed down or received from an ancestor

I wish I could change the definition of the word legacy so that it focused more on how you are living in the present rather than what you are leaving behind.  How awesome would it be if our loved ones referenced our impact on them while still present?  So, I decided to reframe my definition of legacy to be, “the impact I make daily upon the people in my life that matter most.” That’s how I want to live and I bet you do too.

Who is a part of your declaration?

The short answer is everyone you wish to have an impact on.  But for the sake of creating your life declaration, let’s first focus on those closest to you and then to your sphere of influence.

Part of my life declaration includes fighting shoulder to shoulder with my kids for their dreams, and my husband and his dreams and so YES, I included their dreams on my life declaration because it’s what I am committed to. Additionally, you will see circles for the ladies that attend the She Dared To Retreat because my pursuit of happiness includes teaching, mentoring and coaching women how to create a business around their lifestyle.

So, let me ask you, who is a part of your life declaration?  Is it your spouse, kids, parents, friends, clients, co-workers, church family…  who will you impact for the better in the next 10, 20, 30 years?

In next week’s blog, we will dive into Part III… “What are you in pursuit of?”