Building a Legacy

Your children will inherit more than your possessions. They'll inherit your patterns, your values, your way of handling difficulty, your approach to relationships. The legacy you build isn't primarily financial; it's character. Who you are today shapes who they become tomorrow.

Most men don't think about legacy until it's too late to change much. The time to build is now, in the daily choices that seem small but compound over decades.

What Gets Passed Down

How you treat their mother: Your sons learn how to be husbands. Your daughters learn what to expect from men.

How you handle stress: They're watching you respond to pressure. They'll do what you did, not what you said.

Your relationship with faith: Not just belief, but practice. They notice whether it's real or just talk.

Your character: Integrity, work ethic, kindness, patience. These transfer through observation.

Your wounds: Unhealed hurts become patterns they inherit. Breaking cycles is legacy work.

Your kids are becoming who you are, not who you tell them to be. The most powerful legacy work is becoming the man you want them to emulate.

Building Intentionally

• Be who you want them to become: Model it. Live it. Let them see it.
• Tell them the stories: Family history, lessons learned, values you hold. Pass it down verbally.
• Break negative cycles: What you inherited that shouldn't continue? Stop it with you.
• Create experiences: Traditions, trips, rituals that build shared memory.
• Invest time: Nothing says "you matter" like presence. Be there.

Beyond Your Kids

Legacy extends beyond your immediate family. What are you building that will outlast you? Mentoring younger men, serving your community, building something that matters. Your life is contributing to something. Make sure it's something worthwhile.

Your Action Steps

This week: Think about what you're currently modeling. What are your kids actually learning from watching you?

This month: Identify one negative pattern you inherited. Begin the work of breaking it.

This quarter: Create something intentional for legacy. A tradition, a letter, a practice. Something that will carry forward.