legacy arts | issue 2 | march 2016

MARCH 2016 | PARAGONROAD.COM

Creating a Portfolio of

Unforgettable Memories

+ HOW DANIEL BURRUS, ONE OF THE WORLD'S LEADING

FUTURISTS, DERIVES MEANING FROM HIS MEMORIES

HOW TO BRAND YOUR FAMILY WITH A CUSTOM COAT OF ARMS

IMMORTALIZE YOUR FAMILY

THE RIGHT WAY TO TRANSFER WEALTH

WHY INTERGENERATIONAL WEALTH TRANSFERS FAIL 70% OF THE TIME

LEGACY ARTS March 2016 www.paragonroad.com

Preserving Your Company Legacy at RETIREMENT

NOTES FROM AN ARISTOCRAT

Immortalizing Your Family THROUGH HERALDRY

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LEGACY ARTS March 2016 www.paragonroad.com

Creating a Portfolio of UNFORGETTABLE MEMORIES Q&A with Daniel Burrus, New York Times bestseller and one of the world’s leading futurists on global trends and innovation

Why Intergenerational Wealth Transfers Fail 70% of the Time

Transferring WEALTH the Right Way

by Laura A. Roser

3

Ancient Wisdom: Marcus Aurelius on RETREATING INTO THE SOUL

LEGACY ARTS March 2016 www.paragonroad.com4

Learn how to:l Create a legacy of lasting impact. l Structure financial and time resources in a way that is meaningful. l Archive and document family heritage and personal historical milestones. l Pass on assets of merit, including values and beliefs, traditions, wisdom, talents and skills, and financial intelligence.

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Paragon RoadPUBLISHER

Laura RoserEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Brian C. HailesART DIRECTOR

Marko NedeljkovicDESIGN

Matt RoserCONTENT EDITOR

Mike Bishop

Lord Lamington

Laura Roser

Matthew Roser

Martin Staubus

Martin Staubus

Daniel Burrus

Ian G. Brennan

Rady School of ManagementUniversity of California, San Diego

Paragon Road

Burrus Research

ISSUE 2 | MARCH 2016

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f you’re an entrepreneur, you’re just a bit different from many other people. You have a certain drive that is distinctive. You commit your best efforts to building a business – a challenge you pursue with

passion. It isn’t easy. You make a lot of sacrifices and difficult compromises with your family. But, as you mature and look back at the company you’ve created, you find something to take real pride and satisfaction in.

So what happens to this business – this creation that you’ve brought into being – when you’re ready to retire? What will become of this enterprise? Will you leave a lasting legacy that brings meaningful benefits to others that you care about? Or will you just shut the doors or sell it off to a buyer who will likely chop it up, take out the parts they want and discard the rest?

There is another option. It’s a path that enables an entrepreneur to gain an attractive financial return while also creating a powerful and enduring legacy – an opportunity to

“do well, while doing good.” The concept involves the sale of your company to your employees, through a structured process known as an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP.

How You Can “Cash Out” Without Destroying What You Have Built

Technically, an ESOP is a “qualified retirement plan,” similar in some ways to a 401k plan. Qualified retirement plans, as the name suggests, “qualify” for some very attractive tax advantages. An ESOP, then, is a qualified retirement plan that is expressly intended to be used for the purpose of acquiring stock of the sponsoring company. One of the great things about this is that an ESOP can borrow money from a bank or other lender and then use that money to purchase company stock from the owner. It’s what the Wall Street finance types call a “leveraged buyout,” but in this case done on behalf of the company’s employees. Stock that is purchased by an ESOP is put into the personal retirement accounts of the employees.

By Martin Staubus

I

Preserving Your Company

Legacy at RETIREMENT

Lots to Like about ESOPs

Business owners who learn the details about ESOPs are simply amazed that such a great thing exists.

Here is short run-down of what there is to like:Tax savings. The tax rules for ESOPs provide benefits seemingly at every turn. First, the company itself will be able to claim a deduction for the entire price that the ESOP pays when it buys stock from an owner (this deductible amount is spread over the years that the ESOP is repaying the loan it took out to buy

the stock). Second, the selling owner can avoid the capital gains taxes that would normally be due on the sale of the stock. Third, the employees gain a valuable (and highly incentivizing) stake in company ownership, with all the income taxes they would normally pay if awarded company stock deferred until they retire and cash out of the plan. All told, the taxes saved on a sale to an ESOP actually exceed the value of the stock being sold! So, for example, if an owner sells $10 million of his stock to an ESOP, that transaction will generate about $10.5 million of tax savings (depending on which state you’re in), spread among the company, the owner personally, and the employees.

Preserving Your Company

Legacy at RETIREMENT How a Small Company Lives On After

Its Founder Retires and Cashes Out

LEGACY ARTS March 2016 www.paragonroad.com 5

Flexibility. One of the things that owners like best about the ESOP is that they don’t have to deal with an adversarial buyer, as they would if they tried to sell their company through the conventional “mergers & acquisitions” route. So there is no one you have to negotiate with. As the owner, you simply decide when you’d like to do this, how much stock you would like to sell at this time, how the ESOP’s purchase should be financed, and much more. And once you’ve made those decisions, you simply put the process into motion.

Exiting on Your Own Schedule. A key form of flexibility with an ESOP is that the business owner can sell any portion of the ownership that he or she wishes. It’s certainly possible to sell the entire company in a single transaction via an ESOP. But then, there are other options if you just want to unload the whole business. What’s harder to do – but easy with an ESOP – is to sell just a portion of your ownership. Consider this scenario. A business owner sets up an ESOP, to which he sells 25% or 50% or whatever portion he wishes of his company. This allows him to accomplish two powerful goals. First, he has taken some of his illiquid, undiversified equity value off the table and turned it over to a good wealth manager, thereby assuring economic security for his family regardless what might happen to the business. Second, he has created a powerful employee incentive program. With the employees now having a clear stake in the company’s successful operation, the owner can ease back on his work hours, delegating more responsibility to others and trusting them to a greater degree to “mind the store.” Now the owner can enjoy some vacation travel without the worry, or simply play more golf, or begin to pay back the time that he owes to his family, who didn’t get enough of his time in the early years of the business. And later, when the time is right, he can sell more stock –even the entire remaining interest – to the employees via the ESOP.

Price. The key issue in any sale – price – is settled very simply. The ESOP laws require that a professional business appraiser be engaged to study the company and then provide an expert opinion as to the fair market value of the company. The sale can then be conducted based on that price. You don’t have to worry about a buyer who waits until the last moment in negotiations and then tries to beat you down on the price.

Employee engagement. There are countless anecdotal examples about employees being more engaged and excited than ever. More importantly, academic studies have also shown significantly higher levels of employee engagement. When employees own a stake in the business, they take their work more seriously, they work smarter and more carefully, and the result is a marked improvement in business results. Operating the business becomes a true team sport, with everyone working from the same scoreboard. Owners report that it is a deeply gratifying experience to be a leader in an environment where the employees truly want the company to succeed.

8 LEGACY ARTS March 2016 www.paragonroad.com

Martin Staubus is the executive director of the Beyster Institute, part of the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego, where he teaches and advises business leaders on the development of stronger companies, especially through the practice of employee stock ownership. Martin has 30 years of experience in business, having served in varied roles as an attorney, consultant, Labor Department policy advisor, corporate executive and corporate director. He has served as Associate Director of the ESOP Association in Washington DC, and as a director of the National Center for Employee Ownership. If you would like to get in touch with Martin, he can be reached at [email protected].

The Legacy You Will Leave

Who buys a business when an owner is ready to sell? Traditionally, it is a much larger organization – whether a big player in the same industry, a related industry, or a private equity firm. They buyer is probably not local, maybe even based out of state. What is the result? Employees are going to lose jobs; the company name is going to come down off the wall. The buyer is going to shred the company into pieces, ending the existence of the enterprise that the founder spent a lifetime building. There’s more. All the vendors and service providers who served the company lose business. The company’s business attorney, insurance broker, CPA – all these providers take a hit. The city and county may lose tax revenue. The sale leaves a hole – a little crater – in the economic base of the community.

Not so when the company is sold to the employees via an ESOP. The company continues on as an independent business. The name stays on the wall, the local suppliers and business advisors continue to serve the firm. As for the employees, of course they keep their jobs. But they gain much more than that. They experience the opportunity to own a piece of a thriving business. If they work hard and work smart, they can continue to grow the business, building wealth that will bring economic security to themselves and their families. They will learn what it takes to operate a business successfully, and become smarter and more sophisticated in the process. For many employees this becomes a life-changing experience.

Through a tax-free sale to the employees, that’s the legacy that a business owner can leave. Doing good while doing well.


The evidence is overwhelming.Done right, employee ownership can transform a company, improve performance and accelerate growth. It can create a sustained competitive advantage, driving business success that builds wealth for founders, investors and employee shareholders alike.

The Beyster Institute at UC San Diego’s Rady School of Management works to advance the understanding and practice of employee ownership as an effective and responsible business model. We focus on education, research and consulting to promote employee ownership and the creation of effective ownership cultures.

What is Employee Ownership?

We serve companies interested in the employee ownership business strategy, business owners looking to transition out of their companies and professional advisers who want to better serve their clients by gaining employee ownership knowledge.

The Beyster Institute at UC San Diego’s Rady School of Management works to advance the understanding and practice of employee ownership as an effective and responsible business model. We focus on education, research and consulting to promote employee ownership and the creation of effective ownership cultures.

Visit us at www.rady.ucsd.edu/beyster/What is Employee Ownership?

DEAR LORD LAMINGTON,

Yesterday I was sitting in the back of a bus with my friend and made a joke about lizards. A woman in front of us turned around and said, “Lizards have feelings too. I can’t believe you’re so insensitive!” Well... Turns out this woman has a blog and she posted a picture of me and my friend and wrote an article about us called HATE CRIMES AGAINST ANIMALS. Now I have an angry mob writing negative things about me online. Today my boss called me into his office and fired me over the incident. And my friend won’t speak to me anymore because his mother owns an iguana and she saw his picture associated with the lizard joke. This is a nightmare. How can I get my life back? - LIZARD JOKER

DEAR LIZARD JOKER,

Society is a cruel paradox in which ridicule becomes a relevant evil, much like the ebb and flow of the tide. And unfortunately for you, you are caught up in one of those relativistic witch-hunts. The irony of course, is that your simple joke did no harm, while the words of your aggressors make for a destructive force.

It is no secret that the lizard you made fun of lacks any notion of mankind’s “comedy”. In fact, all of the animal kingdom’s members go about their day without the slightest concern for our word-play and other silly human habits. However, this woman has taken it upon herself to torment you. It is her unseen prerogative to make your life hell for the sake of “victims” who do not care. She is the archetypical casualty that oft plagues our modern world; namely, she is an individual who lacks self-observation and must project some make-believe justice, or “feel” for things that cannot or should not feel.

LETTER 002

LEGACY ARTS Febuary 2016 www.paragonroad.com12 LEGACY ARTS March 2016 www.paragonroad.com

I WILL CAUTION YOU: THE IRE OF SOCIAL MEDIA SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN LIGHTLY!

It has already stolen your job and perhaps a friend or two. Do not let it have more, or it will continue to feed!

First you ought to disable your social media accounts. These websites are easy avenues that allow the Lizard Witch’s followers to brood and plot your doom. It is online where the cult of the Lizard Witch gather, and it is online where they will most comfortably strike. Deprive them of this easy luxury. Deny them your personal details and any acknowledgement.

With your online infamy muted, you ought continue with your life. Certainly the fanaticism that grips these harassers is few and far between. You should be able to find a new job or even a support group to combat these naysayers. If you must, -- and at your own discretion, -- levy some charges against your

attackers. They have caused you undue stress and financial hardship. They continue to stalk and harass you. And by the book of the law, these charges hold a higher precedence over reptilian quips!

But you may also ask: “How do I prevent this situation from arising in the future?” My advice to you: live the life you want. Crazy folks will come and go, but should not bar you from your individualism. There will be many close friends near and they will support you in these trying times. And no matter how you tip-toe, you will always crush a few eggshells.

Sincerely yours,Lord Lamington



ccording to a study that surveyed 3,250 wealthy families, 70% of the time when wealth is transferred to an heir, it is lost due to mismanagement, poor investment choices and other mistakes.

In their book, Preparing Heirs: Five Steps to Successful Transition of Family Wealth and Values, Vic Preisser and Roy Williams cite three reasons why wealth transfers result in so many catastrophes:

l 15% of failed wealth transfers are a result of taxes, legal issues, and poor financial planning.l 25% of failed wealth transfers are because of inadequately prepared heirs.l 60% of failed wealth transfers are because of breakdowns in communication and trust within the family.

The problem I see is that the accumulation, management and retention of wealth is a direct manifestation of mindset and action. When families only focus on hard assets – the money – they lose sight of their most important assets. You have three asset types and only focusing on the money or tangible assets leaves a gaping hole. If you are not able to properly pass on all assets to your heirs, you end up with break downs in family communication, misunderstandings, legal problems and squandered wealth.

A

Why Intergenerational Wealth Transfers Fail 70% of the Time

Transferring WEALTH the Right Way

by Laura A. Roser

When most people think of assets, they think of physical things—money, homes, cars, jewelry—but these objects are a poor replacement for a person’s most valuable assets. Your assets can be broken into three main categories:

l Character Assets: Your meaningful relationships, values, health, spirituality, heritage, purpose, talents, and plans for giving.l Intellectual Assets: Your business systems, alliances, ideas, skills, traditions, and wisdom. l Financial Assets: Your physical wealth and how to pass along money in a way that is meaningful and is not going to harm its recipients by making them dependent and unhappy.

It is easy to pass along your financial assets. Simply set up a trust or foundation and they are distributed as you have instructed.

Simply put, a Meaning Legacy preserves your life, lessons you’ve learned along your journey and vision for the future as a guide to those you care about. It’s not only about leaving behind something great after you have died. It’s about living life in a way that will positively impact those you love right here, right now.

A Meaning Legacy gives your loved ones so much more than good memories; it creates a dialog, a family narrative that will serve as the foundation for their decisions, loyalty and love. When a family is able to openly discuss important issues, have fun together, learn together and support each other, everything is better—from transferring wealth to family vacations.

Often these assets are lost simply because there is not a structured way to identify them and pass them along. But there is a way to properly structure and create a meaningful legacy that takes into account your intellectual and character assets and may very well be the thing that preserves your financial assets.

When you look at the stats above, you’ll see that 85% of failed wealth transfers are a direct result of not properly passing on intellectual and character assets and much of the remaining 15% could be solved by transferring these two asset types as well.

Laura A. Roser is the founder and CEO of Paragon Road, the #1 authority in meaning legacy planning. For more information about meaning legacy planning services, visit www.paragonroad.com.

But what about your character and intellectual assets?

What is a Meaning Legacy?


2

Ian G. Brennan’s heraldic sculptures can be found at Windsor Castle, St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, the College of Arms in London and private homes all over the World. “I became a sculptor quite by accident,” Ian said in his soft-

spoken English accent. None of it would have happened if it hadn’t been for a fire that burned down his furniture shop in the late 80s when he was 35 years old.

The turning point of Ian’s career is when he began digging through the debris—the melted tools, ashes and charred wood—and came upon a piece of wood that looked like a jumping dolphin.

“In that moment, something changed in me,” he said. He picked up a piece of wood and began carving. Since then, Ian has carved hundreds of sculptures depicting everything from swans, dolphins and people to coats of arms and other representations of nobility for Queen Elisabeth and Prince William in London.

“How do you work?” I asked him.“I don’t know what it is with me,” he responded. “It’s like a

party trick.” Ian is unlike most artists. He doesn’t need drawings or pictures. He can simply see something and reproduce it in wood with the perfect proportions. “Sometimes I need to see a picture,” he said, “if I need to count feathers for an eagle sculpture or something. And, of course, symbols for nobility are delivered to me in picture form from the royal family’s artists.” But, other than that, Ian can simply reproduce whatever image is in his head. Ian’s journey has been one of faith. When his furniture shop first burned down, he didn’t have the proper insurance and so the bank was calling him to pay them. It was a very stressful time. A time when Ian spent all of his efforts on wood carving just to take his mind off the worry of paying back the bank. Then the commissions started pouring in.

“You want to know how I got into bronzes?” Ian asked me. Of course, I did.In the early days of his sculpting career, Ian told a friend about his

desire to get into bronzes. But, it was far too expensive. His friend told him he had just bought a lottery ticket and if he won, he’d pay for Ian to have his sculptures crafted in bronze. I’m guessing you know the end to this story. Ian’s friend won lottery. And so Ian became a bronze artist.

When you speak with Ian, you can tell this is a man who loves his craft. He wakes up early in the morning, goes to his shop and carves and works well into the night. Sometimes animals come to visit him around dawn. A badger family or some geese. “It’s really quite sweet, that they trust me that much to come into my shop while I’m working,” Ian said.

When he’s not in his shop, he can be found on the legendary Queen Mary, giving lectures about his work. But mostly, he’s in his shop, toiling away on the next masterpiece.

By Laura A. Roser



UK-based artisan, Ian G Brennan was officially appointed ‘Sculptor to the Most Noble Order of the Garter and Most Honorable Order of the Bath’ in 1989 and has been a professional artist and sculptor working in variety of materials and subjects for over thirty years. Ian’s realistic and heraldic sculptures can be found in many places including Windsor Castle, St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, the College of Arms in London and private homes all over the World. Ian has been commissioned to create sculptures not only for many private and corporate clients, but also for British and European Royalty, Nobility, former British Prime Ministers as well as other Heads of State.

Visit Ian’s website at www.heraldicsculptor.com

About the Artist:


Modern Twists and Variations on Heraldic Achievement

Heraldry has evolved over the centuries and can be seen throughout our daily lives. Gone are the days of knights and noblemen, but the virtues they embodied are still alive and well. Below are some examples of coat of arms designs that depart from tradition:

The Origin of Heraldic Achievement

Heraldry is the study or art of emblazoning arms with achievement. The true origin of this ancient practice is debated and can be seen in Egyptian artifacts dating from 3100 BC. However, the type of heraldic designs we most commonly associate with in our modern time are of European influence. The idea of an inheritable emblem was created in the 12th century during the Norman conquest of England. Henry I of England knighted his son-in-law Geoffrey V, who was bestowed a shield with golden lions. In 1151, this design became the first recorded coat of arms in history and was found on Geoffrey’s funerary enamel. By the middle of the 12th century, the practice of an inherited coat of arms became common and widespread across Europe.

Immortalizing Your Family THROUGH HERALDRY

By Matthew Roser

How To Artistically Capture Your Family’s Legacy

Why Your Family Should Have its Own Coat of Arms The coat of arms is a perfect way to visualize your own family’s successes and values. Our world is becoming fuller and faster by the minute, and fewer people are maintaining their connection with the generations that preceded them. This type of decoration is a unique way in which your children will proudly carry on your name. Although the coat of arms cannot capture every ideal and happy achievement, it rests in a grand, supernatural-like solitude that commands a certain air of awe and respect. Because its origins are rooted in royalty and honor, the coat of arms represents the high morals of love and dignity that accompany a strong family legacy.

Roosevelt coat of arms.

Harvard University’s coat of arms. Originally designed in December of 1643 and January 1644, but forgotten until 1843 when it was rediscovered and remains in use today.

The seal of the president of the United States is born out of heraldic influence.


How To Artistically Capture Your Family’s Legacy

All of the conventional elements found in heraldic achievement can be shown in the figure below.

Dexter and Sinister: Are the words for right and left in Latin. These refer to the bearer’s orientation and not the spectator’s.Motto: Mottos are generally inscribed in a place above the entire piece or just below it. A motto can be written in any language and is usually an important saying, family name, etc.Crest: A “family crest” is often erroneously confused with a coat of arms. In reality, the crest is an ornament that sits atop a helm, such as feathery plume, hawk, or other image.Torse: A torse is type of twisted fabric that wraps around the top of the helmet and base of the crest. This material was meant to hide the join between the helmet and crest and to also hold the mantling in place.Mantling: A drapery tied to the helmet that forms the backdrop for the shield. This type of material may have been used to reduce the wear of sword-blows to the helmet and to also protect the knight from the elements.Helmet: The helmet in heraldry symbolizes rank and stature and was not merely of decorative purposes. Differing styles imply a change in rank and military sophistry.Coronet: This instrument is similar to a crown, but was only worn by noblemen, whereas a crown is only be worn by kings, queens, emperors, empresses, etc.Escutcheon: The escutcheon is a shield in which the coat of arms is

displayed. Often the coat of arms was emblazoned on a shield, but could also be found on a surcoat or tabard in the center of an heraldic achievement.Field: The entire shield or “canvas” of the escutcheon is known as the field. This area is compromised of many components such as tinctures (colors). Usually there would be a chief, a band running horizontally across the top of the shield.Ordinaries: This area of the escutcheon represents a painted geometric figure such as a cross.Charges: Represents some kind of emblem to adorn the coat of arms. This symbol could be a person, tree, sun, etc. A charge may even be an ordinary, such as a cross (or other geometric pattern).Division: Divisions are simply lines that divide the different aspects of the escutcheon.Supporters: A supporter is a figure that is depicted as holding the escutcheon upright.Order: An order may be of an actual party in which the person belongs. These may represent emblems found in a school, police force, military branch, etc.Compartment: This area of the heraldic achievement is usually grass, earth, or another depiction in which the shield rests

Components of Heraldic Achievement

The Purpose of a Coat of Arms The original intention of these markings were to distinguish military commanders from common soldiers. Men were often masked by metal helms and quickly became unrecognizable in the thick of battle. Eventually, these gaudy effigies transcended their military distinctions to become short history pieces on valor and family achievement.

Creating your Own Coat of Arms

Creating your own coat of arms can be a very rewarding experience for you and your family. This type of exercise doesn’t have to be restrictive. You can add or omit as many elements as you desire. In fact, you can create new pieces and form the coat of arms in the way that you want.There are many artists for hire or maybe one of your family members can start the design themselves. The most important fact is that your family comes together to create this symbol. Begin by creating your own escutcheon – this ornament might be the iconic shield, badge, or some other shape. Then play around with colors that are important to your family to paint the field.You can then add symbols or other figures to the coat of arms. Try framing it with some supporters or complete it with a lovely family motto or saying. Emblems and other pieces can be added and removed at will. If you are short on ideas, simply search the thousands of examples online or consult with your artist on what kinds of images speak most to your family name. The true purpose of this coat of arms is for it to represent you. And as long as it does that job, it will be able to endure the generations that inherit it.

Ordinaries

Dexter (right) Sinister (left)

Motto (alternative)

Heraldic Achivment

Crest

TorseMantling

SupporterSupporter

CoronetHelmet

Order

CompartmentMotto

Escutcheon

FieldCharges

Divison


There are families of enduring greatness. They have achieved excellence in times past, yet continue to pursue what made them great. They have stories to tell. They embody high character, are celebrated throughout history and loved by all who know them.

ENDURING

What’s your legacy?www.paragonroad.com


aniel Burrus, New York Times bestseller and one of the world’s leading futurists on global trends and innovation, shares his thoughts about how to create a legacy

of impact. To Daniel, a great legacy revolves around collecting and sharing a portfolio of unforgettable memories. He offers sound advice only gained through years of experience and deep introspection.

LR: We do a lot of work helping individuals create a legacy and pass on non-financial assets, such as wisdom, beliefs, values and so on. What is your take on how one goes about creating a great legacy—either in his or her family or in the community?

DB:The first thing that comes to mind when you’re describing that is, what I want in my old age is a widely

diversified portfolio of unforgettable memories. Now, if you think about that statement for just a minute, memories are usually not a solo thing, they’re usually shared with someone, because, in my mind, the best experience is a shared experience. You have to have that context. If I have great memories and they’re unforgettable, most likely other people that were with me have those unforgettable memories, and really amazing, unforgettable memories you share with people, and they share with people, and it inspires people to create more unforgettable memories. It’s amazing and I’ve had people that have shared unforgettable memories with me that I can see posting those unforgettable memories on their social media sites, to others and it creates a web. Of course, when it comes to unforgettable memories, you need to be making deposits often. That’s one level.

Secondly, it plays into the second part that you talked about

Laura Roser’s Q&A with Futurist Daniel Burrus

D

UNFORGETTABLE MEMORIESCreating a Portfolio of


which is values and beliefs. One of the things that I started doing when I was working on my first book back in the 1980s was, I was thinking of putting in some quotes of other famous people, because in my mind, a good quote usually was one sentence and it was of a piece of wisdom, meaning it was a guiding principal. Because I couldn’t find a good definition of wisdom in the dictionary so I came up with my own, a guiding principal that can be stated in one sentence. I started asking, as I was starting to look at others by Einstein, and Bob Dylan and so on, I started realizing, “Hey I’ve got some guiding principals that have really helped me.”

I started coming up with my guiding principals. Once you write them down it’s easier to share them with family, friends and others because for some reason, the act of writing them down indelibly etches them in your mind’s eye. Even though when I come up with one, I write it down, frankly, I’ve never had to re-look at my old list because it’s in my mind’s eye, I can recall them any time I want.

My suggestion for people is, number one, you have amazing guiding principals that have helped you live a wonderful life, that you would love to pass on, but if you can’t write them,

if you can’t state them in a memorable way, they won’t be passed on as well. I would suggest spending a little bit of time thinking, what are the things that have, if you have fantastic kids that have done amazing things, what are the guiding principals that helped you to do that? It would be good to share those with your kids so that their kids could be doing that.

Or if you’ve been very successful in business, what are the guiding principals that have helped you overcome obstacles and do those amazing things? Again, convert them into a one sentence guiding principal. You can look at quotes of others to give you some ideas of how that might work. So, it’s a way of capturing something that then can be shared and spread, because if you can’t capture it, then you’re relying on hope that others will have those values. Now, of course with that said, I’ll also suggest that how you lived you life and you how you act on a daily basis is in reality, teaching those values and principles because there’s an old saying, “It’s not what you say, it’s what you do,” that people notice. That’s there of course, but what I’m doing is increasing the odds by suggesting you log them, get them written down so that, again they can actually be shared for generations to come.

24 LEGACY ARTS Febuary 2016 www.paragonroad.com

LR: Speaking of that, even writing them down makes a change on your behaviors as well.

DB: Well, of course because we get busy and we’ve got to keep those important self-discovered lessons in the top of our mind rather than buried in our deep subconscious where they may not be acting and working, so it keeps them more top of mind, so that you can access them and use them.

One other little tip that I can give people on that. When you’re talking to people, this may be a work, this may be family and friends, every now and then, one of those guiding principals will come out. You’ll notice it when you say it because it really is powerful. In your subconscious mind you kind of say to yourself, you know that little voice that talks to you in your head? It may say, “Wow, that was good,” but the trouble is, you keep talking and because you keep talking, it is not parked in a permanent memory spot in your brain. You won’t remember it, and therefore you can’t bring it back up whenever you want, because it’s in a part of the brain that’s so temporary that it’s gone. All you will remember is that you really said something great and you wish you could have remembered it.

Here’s a technique that I would like your readers to try, and that is, when one of those great, little one sentence guiding principles, wisdom lines comes out of your mouth when you’re talking to someone, and I don’t care how important a meeting it might be, stop and say, “Wow, hey, that was good. Let me say

that again,” and say it again. Now there’s two things that are happening. Number one, it was good, you should say it again, not only for you but for the people you were talking to, “Hey that was a good one.” Secondly now by stopping and saying it again, you put it in a different part of your brain where it’s now not in the discard pile along with all the other words that you say in everyday conversation, it’s now in a holding tank. Think of it that way, where you can access it for probably another, four, five, six hours before it gets discarded. In other words, now you’ve got time to write it down after you’re done with the conversation.

LR: Wow. I love that. What are your thoughts about how to create a legacy that impacts many people or a community?

DB: If you look at the definitions of legacy. Of course a lot of them involve giving property or money to people after you die. It could be a gift but it also, of course, talks about something that comes from someone in the past, but it’s vague. My take on this, my definition might be, leaving a lasting impact that goes beyond time and place. In other words, none of us know how long we’re going to be on planet earth before we move on to whatever is next, depending on your views and your beliefs, but is there a way that you can reach out from the grave and still have an impact? To me, that’s what legacy is—being able to reach out from the grave and continue to have a positive impact on others.


We all do this in different ways, in my case I’ve written six books that have been translated in multiple languages. For the last 33 years, I’ve been getting a little over a 100 articles a year published, so I’m pretty prolific. I’ve got a newsletter that’s been in publication for 30 years that has a large global reader base. I’ve given 3,000 keynote speeches around the world. This last year one of my audiences was 15,000. Obviously I’m putting a lot out there and so I’m trying to share wisdom and guiding principles that can help people.

The reality is with all of that, they aren’t going to know anything that helped them would come from me necessarily. You know what? I don’t care. It doesn’t have to be tied to me at all to leave an impact and a legacy. It just has to be something that helped others and they’ve passed it on and it was used. It doesn’t have to be tied back to me to be important. I think there’s a selflessness that is part of a ‘leaving a legacy’ because usually when you leave money it’s very self-focused, uncle somebody or grandma somebody gave us, you know, whatever name you want to put on the end, gave us this money.

Often the gift of money doesn’t do what the person leaving the money would have liked. Sometimes it becomes a curse, just like winning the lottery, so many people go broke in a short amount of time. The legacy to me, is always more than money and property because those things can be squandered. It’s something deeper than that.

Again, I’m perhaps unusual in having been prolific in writing and speaking and all the work that I’ve done, but it doesn’t mean we cant do that at work and at home, and with the people that we influence, even if it’s with Cub Scouts, or with Girl Scouts or if it’s with coaching a basketball team, all of that is where you can pass on that wisdom, that then is part of your legacy.

Then there’s one other element on a personal level I’ll share, and that is, again I’ve been doing this for quite a long time, and you know one of the hard trend certainties is that we don’t get younger, we continue to get older, and so for the

last several years I’ve been taking all of the principles that I’ve been teaching, and all of the things, and all of the books and all the articles, and everything, and putting them into what I call a ‘Legacy Project’ meaning something that can help people beyond my time and place. In this case, for me, it was creating what I call the ‘Anticipatory Model’ and the ‘Anticipatory Learning System’. I created it to be what’s called ‘evergreen’ which means the principals are timeless, so they aren’t tied to news of the moment.

It’s small, in this case it’s got four components to it that have seven lessons in each. They are very short, three to four minute single concept videos of me. Then a rapid application tool of how you can apply each principal to whatever you do, your life, or your work. I won’t go into more detail on it. That kind of a program can go on without me having to be there, giving speeches, and doing all these things. Again, it’s kind of corralling, think of it as, in my mind, my greatest hit concepts, the ones that have made the biggest difference, and putting it into a system that doesn’t need me and can be translated into multiple languages, which of course, we’re doing. I actually, intentionally created a legacy system. Again, I might be unique, not all of us are authors and so on, but I’m just giving you an example of what I tried to do to keep that going.

One other last thing that I’ll just mention regarding myself and legacy, because I’m using myself as an example just to stimulate, just to give people ideas. That is, when I started my company over 30 years ago, and I was speaking and consulting and taking my methodologies to all of these companies all around the world, I wanted to make sure that, again they were being spread not just to the adults, but also to the kids. I trained a number of presenters that go into elementary and junior high schools and teach the principals in the form of school assemblies. They really don’t know it’s connected to me. Probably none of them even heard my name doing it. Nobody knows I do it. If you look on my website you won’t see anything about it, because again, it’s about selfless giving, it’s not about, “Gee am I cool? Look what I’ve done,” but rather, “I need to know what I’m doing.” Basically I’m using a Johnny Apple Seed approach, which means, you just plant a lot of seeds, some will grow.

I’ve one presenter, for example, that has been doing this for decades, and has been in, I think something like, 8,000 schools. If you take an average of about a 1,000 kids per school times 8,000 schools, just from that presenter alone, you have quite a few seeds that were planted. Been doing that for 32 years now. That is a way of building legacy as well. Obviously I thought about that when I was 30 something years younger than I am now. Legacy doesn’t have to be done by a gray-haired, older person, I’m actually suggesting that those Millennials and younger people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s start thinking about, “How do you start building your legacy even when you’re young?” because one of the predictable things about the future is, you’re going to get older.


LR: Unfortunately, right? But I guess there are some pros.

DB: The good thing about getting older is, we’ve never been smarter than we are at that point in time. You’ve got collective knowledge, collective wisdom. A young person can’t go out and take a seminar or take a class on wisdom and get much out of it. I mean, a lot of it has to be earned over time. We have strengths as we get older, of course, we have weaknesses too. We don’t know all the new technology, we don’t know all the new stuff, but what you want to do is take your strengths and do the mentoring and the sharing, and the coaching, and those kind of things to help young people with what they don’t have, because they have a lot of things we don’t have.

LR: Yeah, absolutely. It’s interesting in my work, it’s actually pretty refreshing to see how many young people are really interested in building a legacy.

DB: Absolutely, absolutely. Frankly I think the things that have been written about, for example, Millennials and we have younger generations than that of course, too. A lot of that is very generalized, and some of it is really not all as true as we would think. We’re all humans on this planet and I think there are human wants, needs, desires, ambitions. If you get right down to the core of it, one thing about all of us, again as we get older, so if you say, Millennials are this, well this is what they are in this point in their life, but what happens when they’re 10 years older or 20 years older and 30 years older? They’re not doing what they were doing 10 or 20 or 30 years before. They have evolved. They have grown. They’ve got different needs, different wants, different desires because they go through the different stages of life. I think, again we put labels on things but we should always be careful of that.

LR: Oh yeah, I completely agree. I like it though. It seems as though a lot of Millennial types have a service, giving back mentality at a pretty young age, anyway, I like that.


DB: Yeah, yeah and you know, I’ve got to say, I am definitely a baby boomer. Yet I know when I was in upper elementary school, I was volunteering to fix toys for kids that couldn’t afford them for Christmas, and giving back. I’ve been doing that all along. I think that really it’s not about a generation that either gives back or doesn’t give back, there’s always a percent of people in every generation that just have that and maybe it came from part of a values legacy from a grandma or grandpa or something or from a mom or dad, or maybe it just came from their own heart, or they’re like that. The thing that I think is important is for that behavior to inspire others that maybe didn’t have that in their life and they say, “Well you know what? I could do that too.” That’s where things get interesting and fun.

LR: Could you expand a little bit about documenting your legacy for the average person who may not be a writer or have a proclivity for writing or producing content?

DB: Absolutely. First of all, I’ve been very fortunate, for example, my last book was a New York Times, Wall Street Journal bestseller and so on. The reason is, it’s filled with stories. Another part of legacy we’ve already talked about is, getting the values and the beliefs and the principles and sharing those. Story is one of the best ways to bring those to life. I think sharing those stories that have a ‘aha’ moment or a incite in it, are really important. We can do that, of course with our kids and with relatives, and with friends. You don’t have to be what would be considered, a professional storyteller, because let’s face it, some people are maybe better at stories than others, but story is a great way to share.

Let me tell you something that I did. I don’t know if it’s appropriate for this or not, but it’s part of sharing the story. That is, like I would say she was, and I’m talking about my mother now, she was maybe 79 or 80. I took the old super 8mm films that were taken way back when we were kids and converted them to something that could be shown on a television set, but none of them had any sound, and I put them all together. What I did without her knowing is, I had a little tape recorder set up, and I just said, “Hey let’s watch these because you haven’t seen these in decades yourself,” because you know, who watches all their old stuff, right? I sat with her and I asked her questions as it was on. There was some video of my mother and father, I was the oldest, before I was born, and I said, “Hey tell me again how did you meet dad?” and “Tell me again about this.” So here she is with all these memories out in front of her, telling me all these great stories. Some of

them, by the way, I’ve never heard.

What was I doing? I was capturing her voice. Now, neither she nor I knew that two years later cancer would end up becoming fatal for her. That was way back in the year 2000 and she’s no longer around, but I have her voice on record. You might ask yourself, if you’ve got an aging relative, have you captured their voice? Because once they’re gone, their voice is gone. My father passed away when I was much younger, many, many, many decades ago, and hey there’s no recordings of him, so his voice is forever gone. Thinking ahead of time, doing something like that, especially if you’ve got somebody that’s important

to you that’s aging, it’s a way of not only capturing the story, but also capturing the voice.

LR: How do you avoid getting overwhelmed by information? It seems that everyone has their social media accounts, and they post various things. How do you pick out the memories or the stories or things that are most important to pass on? Do you have any thoughts on that?

DB: Yeah. I think one of the things is, within your social network you might say, “Hey why don’t we share a little more of the story rather just a moment?” Because sometimes it’s a picture and, “Hey I’m on vacation,” wherever they are you know? Hawaii. Well instead of just a picture and I’m on vacation in Hawaii, tell me a little something about what you’re doing or what you did? Make it a little bit more interesting. You actually are telling within your social media network, what you would like to get, and think, and by the way, they probably would like to get that too. One way to do it is, just like in life, be the example. Instead of just putting out things that frankly, take your time and have little value, you’ve got a little story. So, if you’re putting a picture, put a story with it rather than something that has little value, so that’s number one.

Secondly, technology is benign you know? It isn’t good or bad, it’s how we decide to use it, so we need to be a little bit more laser like as to how we us social media so we don’t get overwhelmed by it. Maybe there are people you’re following that are really not giving you what you want, they’re just taking up space. Well, maybe you should unfollow them. Maybe there are people that are not only showing you a picture of the new baby, but telling you a little bit about that new baby, and that new baby and that person is important to you, well you know that’s somebody you want to see. I think, it’s kind of like separating the wheat from the chaff a little bit so you’re not overwhelmed.

LR: Yeah. Let’s say you want to pass on a legacy to your kids or just build certain principles or stories, in your opinion, is there a way to determine what’s important? Let’s say, I don’t know, you went on five Hawaii vacations and they were all great. How do you determine experiences with impact to pass on versus ‘this was a fun vacation involving a fantastic pina colada’?


Daniel Burrus is considered one of the World’s Leading Futurists on Global Trends and Innovation. The New York Times has referred to him as one of the top three business gurus in the highest demand as a speaker.

He is a strategic advisor to executives from Fortune 500 companies helping them to develop game-changing strategies based on his proven methodologies for capitalizing on technology innovations and their future impact. He is the author of six books, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal best seller Flash Foresight as well as the highly acclaimed Technotrends.

DB: That’s a good question. Remember I said, I’d like a portfolio of unforgettable memories? Out of those five vacations, what were the unforgettable memories? Those are the ones that you want to share, because there’s a lot of stuff that isn’t because it could be easily forgotten. What are the unforgettable parts? Well, that narrows it down quite a bit. What’s the thing that you will always remember about Hawaii? I’m giving you an example of, ask better questions, you get better answers. Ask a better question of yourself, you know? “I spent two weeks in Hawaii, what was the thing that surprised me the most? What was the thing that touched my heart the most? What was the thing that I learned the most?” Well now, all of a sudden, you’re going to get some ideas, rather than, “I don’t know what to talk about. How do I know, it was just Hawaii?” Well no, it wasn’t just Hawaii, there were things that happened there. Again, ask better questions, you’ll start getting better answers.

LEGACY ARTS Febuary 2016 www.paragonroad.com 29

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You Can Thrive In the Future, If You Understand What is Shaping It Today

Daniel Burrus has established a worldwide reputation for accurately predicting the future of technological change and its impact on the world of business.

He will teach your organization how to turn disruption and change into opportunity and advantage.

Learn more at www.burrus.com

3LEGACY ARTS Febuary 2016 www.paragonroad.com


en seek for seclusion in the wilderness, by the seashore, or in the mountains – a dream you have cherished only too fondly yourself. But such fancies are

wholly unworthy of a philosopher, since at any moment you choose you can retire within yourself. Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul; above all, he who possesses resources in himself, which he need only contemplate to secure immediate ease of mind – the ease that is but another word for a well-ordered spirit. Avail yourself often, then, of this retirement, and so continually renew yourself. Make your rules of life brief, yet so as to embrace the fundamentals; recurrence to them will then suffice to remove all vexation, and send you back without fretting to the duties to which you must return.” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 4

How Does One Create a Well-Ordered Spirit?

In The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell said, “One of our problems today is that we are not well acquainted with the literature of the spirit.” In other words, we care about the news, solving immediate problems, making money, taking the kids to school and so on. We watch funny sitcoms or get engrossed in a television series about a vigilante serial killer

Ancient Wisdom: Marcus Aurelius on RETREATING INTO THE SOULBy Laura A. Roser

“M


or a teacher who has to cook meth to pay for his cancer treatment. This is all fun or necessary (to some extent). But what about the deeper meaning of life? What about the development of your soul?

It used to be that people had a deep cultural heritage built upon great literature. You’d go to the university and learn about how to develop a rich inner life from the greats: Socrates, Plato, Thoreau, Confucius, the Buddha and so on. But now, most of that knowledge is not being taught. It’s all about practicality and getting a degree so you can get a job so you can pay your bills.

One day, however, you will get older. The fleeting concerns will be gone and you will want more. You will want to retreat into your soul. But what if you don’t have a well-developed soul? Well then, you’ve got two choices: 1. distract yourself with more empty pleasures (television, computer games, food, alcohol, sex, work, etc.), 2. delve into the journey of discovering yourself and refining your soul.

Ancient Wisdom: Marcus Aurelius on RETREATING INTO THE SOUL

So, let’s say you want to take path two: creating a soul you’d be happy to retreat into. How do you do it? Everyone is unique and must find his or he own path. But, I’d recommend starting with philosophical or spiritual literature. Start with some Seneca or Marcus Aurelius. Read spiritual texts, such as the Bible or Buddha’s teachings. You don’t have to be religious to connect with these texts. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about centering yourself and identifying with the greater wisdom within these classical works. If you study enough philosophical literature, religion, anthropology and mythology, you will start to see patterns. Your own personal philosophy will begin to shine through.

Keep a journal about what you believe. This isn’t about being right or wrong. It’s about crafting your own personal philosophy and belief system. It’s about cultivating an inner life that has substance. It is the difference between feeding your body a steady diet of junk food or whole, organic fruits and vegetables. Over time, if all you have is junk, your soul will become sick.

When you are at peace with yourself, that is the true mark of a healthy life. No matter what disorder swirls around you, you can always retreat within your own soul.

ISSUE 2 | MARCH 2016

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