Discover Your One Word to Ensure Your Legacy
Have you considered there may be one word that 1) describes you at your most basic level, 2) acts as a lens through which your most important decisions are made, and 3) is the one thing for which you’re most remembered – your one-word epitaph? There is one word for you that meets these criteria and acts as a centering theme for your Christian life!
The idea of having one word to both describe and define you isn’t new – a Google search will yield numerous results. Some of the more popular are Mike Ashcraft’s and Rachel Olsen’s MyOneWord.org, the OneWord365.com movement designed to help you find your word in a like-minded community of supporters, and the One Word that will Change Your Life movement from Jon Gordon, Dan Britton, and Jimmy Page. These are all fantastic and highly recommended if you wish to find an annual word to focus and drive your efforts to improve your life.
This article has a slightly different intention – to find a word that resonates across your entire life and acts as a focusing lens and anchor for your legacy – the one thing for which you wish to be known and remembered. This word exists at the intersection of your Spiritual Gifts, your Earthly Gifts, and your Spiritual Legacy; it takes a bit of work to explore and discover, but you’re likely to learn things about yourself you didn’t previously know, and discern new ways of marshaling your gifts and talents for maximum impact.
I use the mechanism of a 3-circle Venn diagram (to the right) to position the main subject areas and create intersections where they overlap – these intersections create the critical context needed to explore how your gifts and talents coalesce and give rise to your word. At the intersection of Spiritual Gifts and Earthly gifts you find what you’re good at. At the intersection of Spiritual Gifts and Spiritual Legacy you find why you’re here. And at the intersection of Earthly Gifts and Spiritual Legacy you find how you’re remembered. Together, these spaces create a powerful context for you to discover your word.
Below is a link to the complete article (~15 minute read) – I’d love your comments and feedback or, even better, to take you through the entire process to discover the One Word for your Life – the One Word guaranteed to focus and establish your legacy!
