People Will Summarize Your Life in One Sentence-Pick It Now

John Maxwell

• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781400275595
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Leadership
• Index: Business

Smart leaders learn from their own mistakes. Smarter ones learn from others' mistakes—and successes.  John C. Maxwell wants to help you become the smartest leader you can be by sharing Chapter 26,People Will Summarize Your Life In One Sentence-Pick It Now, of Leadership Gold with you. After nearly forty years of leading, Maxwell has mined the gold so you don't have to. Each chapter contains detailed application exercises and a "Mentoring Moment" for leaders who desire to mentor others using the book. Gaining leadership insight is a lot like mining for gold. You don't set out to look for the dirt. You look for the nuggets. You'll find them here.

PEOPLE WILL SUMMARIZE
YOUR LIFE IN ONE
SENTENCE—PICK IT NOW

On December 18, 1998, I had a serious heart attack. That night as I lay on the floor waiting for an ambulance, I remember thinking two things: First, I was too young to die. Second, I had not completed some of the things I wanted to accomplish.

Thanks to excellent medical care and the prayers of many, I survived and am now in good health. But during my recovery, I thought a lot about life, death, and the impact I wanted to make before I died. As I considered what might have happened, I thought about who would have attended my memorial service. I wondered what people would say. And in an honest moment, I had to laugh as I realized that the size of my funeral attendance would be determined by the weather—and that thirty minutes after the service was done, people would be in some community building and the most important thing on their minds would be where to find the potato salad!

WHAT WILL I LEAVE BEHIND?

One of the most beneficial outcomes of my heart attack experience was that it motivated me to ask myself, “What will my legacy be?” A legacy is something we leave behind to the next generation. It can be possessions that we place in the hands of others. It can be principles we lived that carry on beyond our lives. It also can be people we have influenced whose lives are better as a result of knowing us.

Now that I am getting older and have begun to think more about my legacy, I ask leaders I admire about what they desire to leave behind after they die. A few years ago at a conference I hosted, I interviewed John Wooden, the legendary college basketball coach of the UCLA Bruins, who was ninety-two at that time. I asked him about his legacy and how he wanted to be remembered by those who knew him.

“I certainly don’t want to be remembered for trophies and national championships,” ...