Legacy Cafe Podcast

#14 Resolve to Create Legacies in the New Year

#13 Check the Charity so Your Check Creates a Legacy

#12 The Healthiest, And Most Profitable, Organizations Know Their Story

#11 Bring Your 20th Century Memories into the 21st Century

#10 Go From Bickering to Bonding at the Holiday Dinner Table

#9 Creating Your Legacies for the Future

Imagine that, centuries ago, you were laying a stone for a building that will take 50, 100, 150 years to complete. You won’t be alive when it’s finished. And those who will lay the final stones aren’t even born yet.

But you know everything you do now will have a long-term impact.  You enjoy laying each stone… knowing generations in the future will thank you for starting with that first brick. Your generation works today, but is tethered to the future.

“Cathedral Thinking” is ambitious, long term thinking. Cathedral Thinking will take that first step towards a brilliant idea that the future will say ‘thank you’ for. Your legacy is that idea, that 'Cathedral' you started.

It’s easy to think short term. But Rick Antonson, author, travel industry executive, and apostle of Cathedral Thinking, will help you lay that first stone of your long-term legacy.

#8 Generativity. A New Way to Think About Legacy

Want to create legacies that give meaning to your life?

Well, think differently.

Think ‘Generativity’.

Generativity is a mindset, and a process.  It’s a mindset that is concerned, and excited, about the future…. and your ability to benefit future generations. It’s a process to arrive at legacies that will enhance lives now, and in the future.

Just follow the few steps to ‘Generativity’ that John Kotre outlines here… and you’ll find yourself thinking differently.

“I loved this interview with John Kotre” said Robb Lucy. “It affirms that everything we do can affect our lives, and the lives of those that follow. If the world thought and acted in a 'generative way', it would be a very different place. So... let's start!"

#7 I Could Be a Philanthropist? Yup. But First, What's Your Story?

A few questions about ‘philanthropy’?

1. Is it about giving away all the cash when I die? NO
2. Can I be a philanthropist without a seven-figure estate? YES
3. Are the money guys changing to care about what I want? YUP, SOME ARE.

John A. Warnick is the founder of the Purposeful Planning Institute. He says they’re creating a revolution in the way they work with you, your money… and your ‘story’.

The money guys are catching up. They’re learning they need to understand your story so they can organize your philanthropy, so you can build the legacies that are meaningful to you. A scholarship… swings in the park… an international charity.....a special keepsake for the library.

Ready to say hello to your angels and heroes?

#6 Does Your Family Tree Need Nourishment?

In the film National Treasure 2, Nicolas Cage’s character said, “Everything I am is because of my ancestors.”

Now, was he looking at his family tree… or listening to some family stories?

When you say ‘family tree’, that’s Genealogy, tracing the history of your family. These are the hard, cold facts: names, birth and death dates, places, and events like marriage and divorces.

And then we ask: does Genealogy help us find those memorable family history stories? Legacy stories that delight us and our descendants years from now?

When we find interesting family history and collect those stories, do they lead us back to fill in a few more leaves on the family tree?

Back and forth - the science of Genealogy to the joy of family history stories. Then those stories send us back to Genealogy, and the circle continues.

So, where should you start: Genealogy… or family history?

Join Robb and Jean Wilcox Hibben, a 40 year Genealogist working at circlemending.org, and President of the Southern California chapter of The Association. of Professional Genealogists, in a fascinating conversation about tying your family history to your family legacy.

#5 Boomers and Legacy? Do Generations Think Differently?

HANG ON BOOMERS! Michael Adams says we’re ‘self-centered spendthrifts, nostalgic tree-huggers, indulgent parents, aging hippies…. and sell-outs!’

YOWZA! Join Robb Lucy as he asks Michael (with trepidation) how we Boomers, and the generations before and after us, are approaching our legacies. Does each generation look at legacy differently?

Michael Adams is the president of the Environics group of research and communications consulting companies and the author of six books, including: STAYING ALIVE: how baby boomers will work play and find meaning in the second half of their adult lives. Michael is a noted commentator on social values and social change in North America, and a popular public speaker, offering topical, entertaining talks elaborating the data presented in his books.

Our parents (the ‘Elders’) gave to charities out of a sense of duty and self-sacrifice – nobles oblige. Their kids – the Boomers – don’t give out of ‘duty’. We want results. We want to see how we’ve changed the lives of others.

Adams calls Boomers ‘autonomous rebels’, whereas Millennials are ‘engaged idealists’. For instance, Boomers grew up with religion, then rebelled. The ‘post Boomers’ (Gen X + Y) are more exploratory, and less resentful. Boomers practiced traditional politics. Post Boomers aren’t disengaged, but engaged in new ways.