Tool 15: A Heritage Vision: What Are You Leaving Behind?
This tool offers a template for helping you think through your legacy—that is, what you are leaving behind when you die. In many ways, this worksheet is actually more about what you are sending ahead into the next life, as each component relates to your investment in the eternal over the temporal. This tool was originally created for the Heritage Forum (www.heritageforums.com) and is provided courtesy of the Christian financial planning firm Blue Trust.
Constructing Your Heritage Vision
Heritage Vision Worksheet
As I think about the vision I have for my heritage (what I hand down to those who come behind me), I acknowledge that it will contain some, if not all, of the following components.
Spiritual capital
- Do I have a growing and deepening relationship with Christ?
- What spiritual disciplines are part of my life?
- Am I passing these disciplines on to my posterity?
Write your vision for this area of your heritage. What does this look like for you?
Social/spiritual capital
- What am I doing to invest in my marriage?
- How is my relationship with my wife now?
Write your vision for this area of your heritage. What does this look like for you?
Social/spiritual capital
- What spiritual beliefs, values, and characteristics do I want to ensure my family learns from me?
- Do I have an intentional plan to convey them?
Write your vision for this area of your heritage. What does this look like for you?
Social capital
- Do I have a written purpose statement?
- What does one look like for me?
- Do I have a clear picture of the components of a godly purpose?
Write your vision for this area of your heritage. What does this look like for you?
Social/spiritual capital
- How does balance look in my life?
- Would those who know me feel I am in balance?
Ecclesiastes 4:4-6; Psalm 127:2
Write your vision for this area of your heritage. What does this look like for you?
Social/spiritual capital
- Do I have a close friend or two who will tell me the truth and hold me accountable?
- Am I willing to be transparent with these close friends?
Write your vision for this area of your heritage. What does this look like for you?
Spiritual capital
- Am I exhibiting generosity in my life?
- Does my family see me as a generous person?
Write your vision for this area of your heritage. What does this look like for you?
Spiritual capital
- Does this mindset exist in my family?
- What could ministry look like for me at this time in my life?
- Am I involved in ministry now?
Write your vision for this area of your heritage. What does this look like for you?
Financial capital
- Estate—Does my current estate plan reflect my values?
- Business—Are my assets being left in a form that fits skills of recipients?
- Personal—Am I handling my money in a manner that allows me to balance life and invest in spiritual and social capital?
Proverbs 27:23
Ecclesiastes 7:11-12
Write your vision for this area of your heritage. What does this look like for you?
Social/financial capital
- Do I find fulfillment in and enjoy what I am doing vocationally?
Write your vision for this area of your heritage. What does this look like for you?
Social capital
- Have I done anything that might undermine a work ethic in future generations?
- What does a work ethic look like to me?
Write your vision for this area of your heritage. What does this look like for you?
Summary
List the three actions you will take by year end to begin to allow your Heritage Vision to take shape.
Recalibrate Your Life: Navigating Transitions with Purpose and Hope
Times of transition, especially in midlife or later life, are ideal moments for recalibrating our priorities and habits. Gain practical tools and the eternal perspective needed to evaluate your God-given gifts, skills, wisdom, resources, and opportunities in order to life meaningfully now and for the rest of your earthly sojourn.