A man in Colorado recently woke up to find that his obituary had been accidentally printed in the local paper. It ended up being a prank; however, he said it had given his life new meaning because he began reconnecting with so many friends and relatives that he had lost touch with.

This made me think about the story when Alfred Nobel’s obituary was mistakenly printed in a French newspaper after his brother, Ludvig, had passed away.

Alfred Nobel was the inventor of dynamite, and in this erroneous obituary, the newspaper stated:

“The merchant of death is dead. Dr Alfred Nobel, who made his fortune by finding
a way to kill the most people as ever before in the shortest time possible, died yesterday.”

Alfred was horrified when he read this. He later became obsessed to change the legacy of how he would be remembered in the world. He started by changing his will and leaving most of his fortune to establish the Nobel Prize. His goal was to make sure no future obituary writer would have any doubt as to his yearning for peace and progress.

Eight years after his devastating obituary, Nobel died, and his famous will was unveiled, laying the foundation for what today is considered one of the most prestigious prizes in the world!

As a Life and Legacy Coach and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, professional, I understand the value of living AND leaving the legacy that you desire. My assignment for you is to ask yourself, “How do I want to be remembered?”

Close your eyes and imagine you are walking into a funeral, and everywhere you look are the faces of those you know, respect, and love. It’s YOUR funeral!

How to you want to be remembered? What do you want them to say about you? Spend some time now to write your own eulogy. Print it out and look at it for a few days.

You now have the basis for creating some very powerful goals and daily affirmations. This document can also be a good foundation for becoming crystal clear about your purpose and the legacy you want to not only leave, but also LIVE.

If after doing this exercise, you would like to go deeper in exploring your vision, values, and purpose I have two options for you:

  • Take my free course, Unlock Your Financial Power: The Key to Health, Wealth, and Happiness by clicking here. It’s free and available through the Smart Women’s Academy.
  • Schedule a complementary coaching session with me at www.talkwithkatana.com. I’ll invite you to complete an online coaching prep form to help us have a really effective session together!

I look forward to hearing from you and learning what legacy you want to leave.

Katana Abbott, CFP® practitioner, is a Life and Legacy Coach™, host of the Smart Women Talk Radio™, founder of the Smart Women Companies with over 1 million subscribers globally, inspirational speaker and author of several books.

She began her financial planning career in 1987 and became a Certified Financial Planner™ practitioner. In 2003, Katana created Smart Women’s Coaching® to offer financial coaching and educational workshops for women in transition who are dealing with caregiving, death of a loved one, divorce, retirement or looking to create or grow a business.  She founded Smart Women’s Empowerment in 2008 to bring free financial empowerment resources and programs to women around the world through her team of Contributing Experts. www.katanaabbott.com