When most people think of legacy, they think of what’s left behind after they are gone…but what they miss is the fact that every legacy is built in the now. It’s in every choice you make and in the moment-by-moment interactions you have with your family, friends, colleagues and community. Your time, attention and your emotional availability matters to each person you interact with—often far more than your financial or professional legacy does—and it is the real foundation for building a life with a long-lasting impact.
What Pay Your Family First really means.
Pay Your Family First, one of the globally successful companies I’ve built, focuses on making your family’s future the first priority in your life. The concept of paying your family first is about improving the quality of your life in all areas, with your family as the primary focus. Afterall, the point of building a legacy is to make a difference for the people who are closest to you, as well as the generations who come after.
But while building a future legacy, many people end up with blinders on because they hyper-focus on fixing one thing, like financial literacy or wealth building, and let other important things fall to the wayside.
They lose track of the big picture and the things that make life truly fulfilling, like family outings, hobbies, time with friends, personal development and so on, telling themselves they will take the time to do those things after they have built their financial legacy.
Unfortunately, if you let that happen, your family gets what’s left over from you, instead of what’s best from you. That creates a separation with a negative long-lasting impact that can cost you more than you can imagine.
The cost of putting everything else first.
When we lean into the hustle culture and work long hours to amass our fortunes, allowing that to singularly command our time and attention, we lose things we can never get back.
A baby’s first steps.
Get togethers with friends.
The little league home run.
Chatter and laughter around the dinner table.
Playing games together as a family.
The hustle culture makes us miss out on the moments that make life beautiful and fill it with joy. And our families are left wanting the one thing that matters most to them—time with us.
That kind of long-term emotional and relational debt builds over time, and for many, it can be very hard to bridge that gap when our children are grown, parents or partners are gone and friends have moved on. Nobody wants to live life isolated and alone. That’s why paying your family first, by putting your family first, will help you build a legacy that matters to you and the ones you love most.
Building a legacy with long-lasting impact while you’re still living.
To build a legacy that truly matters to you and encompasses all areas of your life, take a step back and think about the way you want to feel when it comes to your:
- Family
- Friends
- Finances
- Field (career or business)
- Faith
- Fitness (physical, emotional, mental, etc.)
- Fun
Then consider your focus and where you are spending most of your time right now. Does that match with the way you want to feel in all these areas?
If it doesn’t, what is one thing you can do to change that?
This doesn’t mean you drop all your focus on your business or your finances; it means making some strategic shifts to include the word AND into your strategy.
How can I build my business AND spend time with my family?
How can I expand my streams of income AND take time for personal development?
How can I get my ‘to do’ list done AND have quiet time too?
Notice that we are not asking “Can I….” That can be a self-limiting question because it can quickly lead to a yes or a no. Instead, “How can I…” invites you to explore the opportunities.
It might even lead you to the realization that you don’t know how to do it—which is a big win because then you can reach out to a friend, a mentor or someone you admire who already has the kind of life you want.
Ask them for the steps they took to build a purpose-driven life while putting their family first. Then all you have to do is take the same steps. It might not be easy to do, but it really is that simple.
This is how you live a life by design rather than a life by default AND create the success you want in all areas.
Aligning your work, wealth and family purpose.
The way you align your work, wealth and family purpose is to start with:
- Defining your personal values
- Selecting the values your family wants to live by together
- And clearly detailing the bigger vision you and your family want to create
Once you have those three things, it gives you a quick yes or no framework to make decisions that support the life you want.
This way you can say yes to the right things by asking yourself:
- Does this align with your personal and/or family values? If yes…keep on going. If no…move on.
- Does it move you toward your bigger vision? Yes…move forward. No…politely decline.
- Does it help you fulfill the legacy you are building? Yes or no.
By making intentional decisions with this easy-to-follow framework, you will keep moving toward your bigger vision and the things that are truly most important to you and your family, and step-by-step, you will build the legacy, life and future you really want.
As you take the steps to pay your family first, the people who matter most to you will get the priceless benefit of time with you, building your personal legacy, and simultaneously you can continue to expand your financial and professional legacy, doing the things that will make a long-lasting impact in your community, country or the world—in your way.
One thing that will make your journey toward the success you want a lot easier, is defining your Personal Success Equation. With it, you will discover your personalized formula for income generation and lasting wealth. The FREE guide will show you how to apply the equation to your life to get significant results.
This equation will work for you, even if you’ve fallen short of hitting your goals in the past.
Take the next step toward your legacy. Get your FREE Personal Success Equation now.