Something I like to ask people who ask me for career advice is, “what motivates you?”
And a common reply I get is,
“To leave a legacy.”
And that’s when I stop them.
Not because leaving a legacy is “bad”. It’s not. (I think it’s good to have a moral compass, and think, “would future generations approve of what I’m doing?”)
But as a primary motivator?
I’m not a fan.
Today, I’m gonna explain why, and share what I think is a far more “fruitful” thing to focus on instead.
Here we go.
🤥 Is it even possible?
I read somewhere that the 5 inventions that’ve had the biggest impact on human history were: fire, gunpowder, the transistor, the condom and the Internet.
Probably true.
And yet, I don’t know who invented any of them! (Can you?)
So…
If these people (who permanently altered the face of humanity) have been forgotten by Father Time, how will your career stack up?
It kinda reminds of a story about a king who conquered the entire world so that when he died, he’d be granted the rare honour of writing his name on “The Golden Mountain”.
But…
When he dies…
He walks up to the mountain and finds out:
There’s so many signatures on the Mountain, he can barely scribble his name!
🤔 Who’s “they”?
“I want people to remember me when I’m gone,” we tell ourselves.
But who exactly are these “people”?
Case in point:
Back in 2014, the Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey team played a game on “Giants of Africa Day” to honour the great Nelson Mandela. Post-game, the interviewer asked the goalkeeper, “What does Nelson Mandela mean to you?”
He replies: “Obviously, he was one of the most known athletes in history… A great person, both on and off the ice.”
🤦♂️
So…
If an athlete doesn’t even know who Nelson Mandela is….at an event to honour Mandela’s legacy… a year after Mandela’s death… then how can we expect the average person scrolling TikTok in the year 3000 to remember who we were?
It's worth considering: You do so much in your career and make ton of sacrifices. But who are you really doing it for? Is it for yourself and the people close to you, or for random future people who won't even remember you when you're gone?
🫣 “Legacy” is a cop-out
Marketer Seth Godin makes a brilliant (yet uncomfortable) point:
Day-dreaming about “changing the world” (or leaving a legacy) is just an escape from doing the hard, dirty work of changing just one person’s life in the present.
And I think that’s spot-on.
It’s kinda like reading self-help books as a way of avoiding the boring reality of building our skills, or brushing up our resume (hint hint: Resume Worded is super helpful if you’ve been putting it off!) and applying for jobs in the present.
Which brings me to the next point:
🧬 Legacy is a byproduct, not a goal
Do you think the people who left a legacy actually cared about leaving a legacy?
I don’t think so.
I think most of them had their feet firmly planted in the here and now, and spent 100% of their attention struggling with the problem in front of them.
I mean, would Thomas Edison have been able to go through 9,999 different lightbulb attempts if his mind had been focused on his autobiography instead of obsessing over tungsten and current coils?
I doubt it.
And that’s the irony:
The only way to leave a legacy is… by focusing all your attention on something that isn’t a legacy.
It's far more realistic and rewarding to focus on the impact you're making now, rather than how you'll be remembered when you're not even alive to see that impact. Prioritize fulfillment in the present – it's the only time you're guaranteed to experience it.
Finally…
🥺 Legacy is people-pleasing
When we’re at a crossroads in our career and we don’t know what to do, very few of us would think, “Lemme go open up a poll and let 500 random people decide.”
So why let 500 strangers from the future decide what you do?
Remember:
Care what some people think, not what all people think.
Instead of focusing on being remembered by strangers, try being a good mother, father, sister, brother, friend or colleague right now.
Because while your accomplishments probably won’t be remembered in 100 years, your actions can change the lives of those around you in the present.
When people say they focus on legacy, what they're kinda saying is they're focusing on what others think about them, not personal fulfillment. This mindset is at the core of many career mistakes and a lot of unfulfillment – it's essentially just another form of people-pleasing.
So, why am I harping on about this?
I've seen too many people get stuck chasing this vague idea of legacy, making it harder to set concrete career goals and harder to focus on what really matters in their careers right now and the impact they could make on themselves today.
Some final (more upbeat 🥲) takeaways I want you to remember:
- Be honest about what you want. Money, satisfaction, helping others - all valid. Just don't disguise it as building a legacy. You can't optimize for legacy, but you can optimize for clear, personal goals. What do you really want from your career?
- Your decisions today shape your career more than any imagined future legacy. So focus on making good choices now.
- Don't overthink stuff, civilizations come and go. Idk, I feel it takes the pressure off when I realize we're just a blip in time.
A little different today, but hopefully my rant gives you some food for thought and encourages you to look at your career goals from another angle.