Living Your "Dash" Will Determine The Legacy You Leave

One of the coaches who greatly impacted my life, Stewart Black, once asked a team of executives: "What is your dash?"

Sitting at the table, we all looked at each other with an exclamation mark on our foreheads. I thought it was a trick question.

When he saw me a bit confused between answering him and being hesitant to look stupid, he paused for a few seconds to allow me some time to think and then gave me a hint to imagine what might be written on the tombstone of a person who died.

I immediately made the correlation that he meant the dash that separates a person's date of birth and date of death, which is the time a person spends alive on earth.

He asked me again: "What is your dash? When your eulogy is read, would you be proud of the things they will say about you and about how you spent your years from birth till death?"

Then he addressed everyone at the table and recommended not to answer his question. But he strongly advised each of us to reflect on our dash and think of anything we would like to change in our lives now.

I considered this an opportunity for any person to rewrite their dash. With those words, I realized that what matters the most is how we live and love during our years on this earth. It matters not how much wealth we accumulate for the sake of wealth, but we can think of wealth as an enabler to spend quality time with our loved ones.

What Are You Cut For?

With the help of Stewart during several coaching sessions, I managed to clarify my purpose in life: adding value to people's lives. This became the filter for every decision I make, including writing content and books.

When Stewart helped me identify my priorities in life, serving God, my family, and the community were on top of the list. Everything else became secondary or an enabler.

Resource: Share your story with the world

What Are Your Priorities?

Thinking about what your dash is will always be time well spent. I rarely have seen people giving their lives adequate thought and figuring out their purpose. On the contrary, I often see people spend ample time planning for their day-to-day things or vacations.

Don't get caught up in the daily stuff. You will be better off thinking of your life beyond material things. If you make it a practice to revisit your big why list every year and often refer to it to remind yourself of it, that would be a great start.

Seek the Help of Gardeners, Not Mechanics!

It is amazing how a coach can help you figure out the important things in life and how a mentor can help you achieve those goals.

While digging in my notes, I found a simple definition that differentiates a coach from a mentor. "A coach has some great questions for your answers; a mentor has some great answers for your questions."

The coaches I had the honor to work with in my life asked me many challenging questions that triggered my thoughts and made me look for answers. In parallel, I have worked with great mentors who have helped me with the answers to the questions triggered by my coaches.

On that topic, I reflect on what Stewart always discussed in differentiating between the gardener and the mechanic. A gardener creates an environment that nurtures personal growth and allows one to stretch and expand one's mind beyond one's comfort zone. Whereas a mechanic fixes things... or people.

How many of us want to be fixed? Not many.

Without the help of coaches and mentors, our mistakes could have been plentiful, and we might not have achieved whatever success we have so far in our respective lives.

You will need the help of coaches and mentors to guide you on the journey you would select for yourself. You will need someone to hold you accountable for achieving your objectives. You will need someone to help you unfold the priorities you will have down the road a few years from now. You will be amazed how your priorities in life will evolve throughout the years, especially when you grow in experience, skills, and wealth.

Will You Take Action and Change Your Life?

I'll leave you with this question, which I hope you will reflect on and hopefully make meaningful changes to your life.

Once you decide what to achieve, don't get caught in "the captivity of passivity."

Get out there and make it happen... Leave a lasting legacy!