It’s time to think about what exactly you’re leaving behind for the world. Personally, what scares me about death is the fact that people may not remember me after. It’s scary to realize that after living for multiple decades on earth, you may not have left any solid imprint in the lives of others.

Your legacy is exactly that — yours. You don’t have to desire the legacy of the celebrities, actors, musicians, or entrepreneurs you see today. It’s time to think about yours. You can do something nobody else has done; you can be someone nobody else has been. Billions of people have roamed the earth since it was formed, but only a handful of them have truly left behind a lasting legacy.

According to the English Dictionary, a legacy is ‘a piece of ones’ history left behind for following generations to experience.’ Everyone has a history, but is it extraordinary enough to be referenced by future generations?

What is your philosophy? What do you hold up to in high esteem? Your thought process matters a lot when it comes to making a difference. Don’t conform to the limited creativity borne by conservative beliefs. You can break boundaries, and you don’t even have to sweat about it. Recently, I started a course in school called ‘Philosophy of History’ and it’s opened up my mind to a lot of different perspectives. There are different names, different thoughts, different patterns of actions, and a lot of unforgettable events.

The thing with leaving a legacy behind is that you can be influenced by a person’s legacy, but can fine-tune it to form your own. And, surprisingly, yours may make more of an impact than the one that you were inspired by.
Niccoló Machiavelli, a well-known Italian diplomat, and political philosopher lived during the Renaissance period.

That period was characterized by the beliefs of different humanists and philosophers, but Machiavelli is by far one of the most influential philosophers who lived during that time. He built his legacy by boldly reforming the beliefs and ideologies spreading about in the Renaissance era. He popularized what others had thought, but he did so with a unique flair. Though his philosophy is highly controversial, it’s still being talked about today.

So here’s something for you to take home today: dare to be. That sounds weird, doesn’t it? I assure you that it’s not. Being is a word that encompasses different possibilities. You can BE anything. Some will say you should dare to be bold, others will say you should dare to be great.

I definitely cannot tell you what to be, neither can I tell you how to think. It all depends on you, on what drives you; on what plagues your thoughts. That idea that has been defining most of your actions and circumstances can be developed to bring change. And, this is just not just any change. The world desperately needs positive change. We’re running out of good, and it seems like we are thriving on the bad.

So, what legacy will your philosophy leave behind? You can use your ideas to redefine boundaries; to set records. You can be a breath of fresh air in a world filled with toxic ideologies.
This is a reminder from me to you — you can BE the change. If you can think of it, you can do it.

“The future is a concept—it doesn’t exist There is no such thing as tomorrow There never will be because time is always now. That’s one of the things we discover when we stop talking to ourselves and stop thinking. We find there is only present, only an eternal now.” – Alan Watts