Your Work is Your Legacy
To support your family from your business is winning against the odds; To support your employees’ families through your collective work, that is a legacy.
Your name is also your legacy. I went by 3 different last names growing up. So, I never really took pride in the name Johnson. The defining moment for me was when we rebranded our school as Johnson’s Martial Arts in 2017.
We tore down the old decals replacing them with ones with the new logo. Do you know who helped me? My son, Ashton. It was a symbol of our future legacy.
If you’re an employer, you feel no greater responsibility than to pay your staff a living wage that they can be proud of. You have the greatest to lose, are the last to get rewarded (in the form of a paycheck) and yet the first one to lend a hand.
These three things define a leader, and it is your daily challenge to lean in and embrace your calling.
One has to create raving fans, people who don’t only tolerate your product, but simply HAVE to share it with their world.
People must take notice in your pursuit toward greatness. Perhaps not at first, but you will continue to get better. Making your mark will be inevitable due to a relentless focus on self-improvement.
“Whatever you do, do it well.
Do it so well that when people see you do it,
they will want to come back and see you do it again,
and they will want to bring others
and show them how well you do what you do.”
~Walt Disney
I greatly revere Walt Disney, the man who dared to dream. Having attended Disney Institute Courses as part of my continuing education, I have learned to appreciate how Walt’s legacy lives on through the company’s
culture.
We are all posers in some regard. You will always fall short when living according to the expectations of others. When it comes to religion, you will never be devout enough. In music, bands will be called sell-outs because they change their sound.
What about mothers? There are always those that judge working moms, stay-at-home moms, moms who don’t buy organic and more. Yes, you will certainly always fail when you use someone else’s playbook. Don’t you just hate it when we judge each other?
Martial Artists will judge each other, too. You have one side that believes that you should train in the jungle and break cement blocks with your head; Another that makes things so easy that the training is practically worthless. Am I judging? I told you that it happens.
In the end, a student must choose what kind of program they want to take part in; Instructors the manner in which they teach.
I don’t do well without sleep, and it has always been my intention to get a good night’s rest. That is the way that we choose to operate, and it has served us well.
