Jolt!, Phil Cooke [reading women txt] 📗

I pay my housekeeper one salary, but I pay my attorney another salary altogether because my attorney solves bigger problems. Learn to solve bigger problems and you’ll never again need to worry about salary, hourly rates, fees, or income.

When you solve problems, someone is watching. Chances are, the president, CEO, client, or other person significant to your future is watching you solve problems. And the bigger the problem, the bigger the audience.

Effective problem solving is a key to becoming a more effective part of the team, building relationships, getting noticed, and moving up the ladder. Stop thinking about your needs, your wants, and your troubles.

Look for a big problem to solve and get with it.

» JOLT #24

LEAVE A LEGACY OF CHANGE

How Will You Be Remembered?

The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example.

—BENJAMIN DISRAELI, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER AND NOVELIST

Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away.

—PSALM 39:4 NLT

I recently asked a group of major executives and CEOs what their single greatest concern might be about their business and career. I was expecting answers like the need to pursue innovation, finding new I funding and financing, building better teams, or expanding global markets. But a significant number of corporate executives I interviewed replied: “I’m concerned about what kind of legacy I leave behind.”

I was reminded of the story of a very rich man’s funeral. In his lifetime, he lived in luxury and made hundreds of millions of dollars. At the funeral service, one of his former associates leaned over and asked the man’s business manager how much he left behind.

“All of it,” the business manager replied.

When we die, we leave it all. We can’t take our wealth, our property, or our accomplishments. We leave everything, and as we consider our last will and testament and what we’ll leave behind, we can’t forget that we’ll all be leaving a legacy as well.

When that happens, what will your legacy be? Will it be a list of business successes, properties, or stocks? Throughout history, some of the richest and most influential men and women have left a great deal of money, but they’ve also handed down a legacy of bitterness, confusion, and discontent. They have left families torn apart by unfair treatment, abuse, scandal, selfishness, and deceit.

The kinds of problems all the money in the world can’t fix.

» DEATH IS THE ULTIMATE TRANSITION, THE FINAL CHANGE, THE LAST JOLT.

Others, who had far less money, left a more significant legacy. They left behind people whose lives were dramatically changed because of their impact. People who were never the same because someone passed through their lives who cared and brought them great value.

» WHAT WILL YOU LEAVE BEHIND?

This isn’t a chapter intended to be read an hour before you die. The earlier you learn this lesson the better, because the more time you’ll have to build your “lifetime equity” and the greater chance your life will have meaning and impact after you’re gone.

Certainly financial riches are a good thing to leave behind. Designated financial gifts have built hospitals, schools, churches, and libraries. They have provided an education for those who could never have gone to college on their own. And they have allowed vast projects in underdeveloped countries to make an impact on countless people the giver never knew.

Money is good, and if you have a talent for making it, I’m your best cheerleader. By all means, build up a financial legacy that you can leave to impact lives for generations to come.

But leaving a legacy is about so much more than just money. Here are some suggestions I would urge you to consider as you think about leaving behind a heritage that really matters.

THOUGHTS ABOUT YOUR LEGACY

First, settle the ultimate questions.

In the old days they called it “being ready to meet your Maker.” That sounds trite and old-fashioned, but the point is, settle the big questions of your life and search for the spiritual answers you need to find.

Remember our earlier questions: Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? What is my purpose? Take care of spiritual issues so that no matter what happens—or when it happens—you’re ready for the next world. Whatever you do, don’t leave those questions unanswered.

Growing up a pastor’s son, I’ve spent many nights in hospital rooms with my dad as he comforted church members and friends who were dying. As long as I live, I will never forget the difference between people who knew where they were going and those who didn’t. Time and time again, people who had a strong faith died with a sense of peace, as if they were ready for a divine appointment. But during those difficult times when my father had to be at the bedside of someone who refused to acknowledge any spiritual dimension to life, the person often died in fear and terror, with a nervous sense that there were unanswered questions and things not settled.

I don’t write that to scare anyone or to trivialize serious doubts or skepticism about the supernatural or the afterlife. But whatever decision you make, please make a decision so that when your time comes, you’re comfortable with the knowledge that you’ve wrestled with the ultimate questions of life and made a choice.

Second, spend your life investing in people.

Leaving behind buildings, monuments, or companies is a wonderful thing, and I’m all for it. In fact, if you would like to leave behind a building for me, please let me know. I’m happy to accept! But the truth is, the greatest legacy you’ll ever leave is in the lives of people. Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Jesus, Mother Teresa, Fred Rogers, and many more didn’t leave great corporations, buildings, or property. But they will be remembered for generations to come because