What do you want to accomplish in life? What is the mark that you want to leave on this planet? What will your legacy be?  Why is it so essential to untap your own personal abilities? While researching about leaving a legacy, I encountered a very powerful post by Chief Master Sgt. Jeffery W. Frazier, Joint Force Headquarters, Virginia Air National Guard State Human Resource Advisor:

3/15/2009 - RICHMOND, Va. – Legacy, as defined by Webster, is something that is transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past. John Maxwell, author of numerous books on leadership, said, “It’s been said that there are two kinds of people in life: those who make things happen and those who wonder what happened. Leaders have the ability to make things happen. People who don’t know how to make things happen for themselves won’t know how to make things happen for others.”

Maxwell went on to say, “What you do with the future means the difference between leaving a track record and leaving a legacy.” Legacies aren’t just wishful thinking. They’re the result of determined doing. The legacy you leave is the life you lead. You just never know whose life you might touch. What you do know is that you can make a difference. You can leave this world better than you found it.

A legacy comes from the idea that everyone, regardless of their rank or position, can make a difference. Legacies encompass the past, present and future, and it forces us to consider where we have been, where we are now, and where we’re going. A quest to leave a lasting legacy is a journey from success to significance.

By asking ourselves how we want to be remembered, we plant the seeds for living our lives as if we matter. By living each day as if we matter, we offer up our own unique legacy. By offering up our own unique legacy, we make the world we inhabit a better place than we found it. When we choose to lead every day, we choose aspirations of long-term significance over short-term measures of success. It takes courage to lead. It takes courage to make a life, and courage, like leadership, is a choice.

Above all, our legacy is defined in how we defend America. We do this by dominating air, space, and cyberspace. It is part of our warrior ethos: culture, conviction, character, ethic, mindset, spirit, and soul that we foster in all Airmen. It’s the pride in our heritage, the recognition that our Nation depends on us to dominate air, space and cyberspace, and our willing acceptance of the burden of those immense responsibilities.

Therefore, Legacy is your distinctive contribution and commitment to leaving the world a better place each day because you are here!

Now ask yourself, “What did I do today to leave a legacy?”

Each day, remind yourself to be worthy of the sacrifice of those who have come before you.

Ask yourself: Am I selfless in my devotion?

Finally, will you leave a tradition of honor and a legacy of valor?