I can relate to this topic! Last year I created a certification program so I could start passing on my knowledge to other coaches in my niche (podcasting). Now I can see them out there HELPING so many people and I love it when they report back to me with a client success story.
I feel like one of those NFL coaches that has a "coaching tree" of successful coaches that have been assistants. I celebrate their victories as much as I celebrate my own!
Justin-You nailed it! When we pour our wisdom and expertise into others, the impact goes on for generations. While I practiced medicine, the impact of patient’s health recovery was immeasurable. When you change a life your legacy makes the world better for us all.
Great article. And one of many reasons why raising children is and always has been so vital to the vast majority of humans who have ever lived. This is the most obvious and natural way to do this. Amusingly, it's also one of the most overlooked in modern society as people chase everything else.
I loved the restaurant story @Justin Welsh. You make an important point. You got me thinking about the importance of building a movement (through people) rather than defensive brand strategies.
Genuine impact vs pure defensive strategies aimed at protecting one's brand (which paradoxically enough actually denigrates the brand over time).
It comes down to focusing on building a movement and reinventing yourself to keep driving lasting change by repeatedly transforming people (and ourselves) via that movement.
Steve Jobs reinvented at least 5 industries because he was obsessed with genuine change (not just brand protection) and as a result he's built one of the most powerful brands if not THE most powerful brand in the world which still remains at the forefront of our minds despite his demise so many years ago.
As always your article inspired deep thought. Thanks for helping me challenge and question things as always.
"The professors who guard their research versus the ones who teach their students to actually think." - Critical thinking being what is being lost the most in this automated world we've become.
The most vibrant examples of this topic on the culinary front are chef's like Ferran Adria' and Marco Pierre White that created cult followings and legacy just being super committed to their own chops - directly impacting the development of others that became new versions of themselves by simply being themselves, unapologetically.
Their very existence being the inspiration they provide others to take it even further than even they imagined - seemingly without even trying, just remaining within their own process, and results being the by-product or in this case, their "legacy"....
The legacy I've been working on (I think unconsciously) is not about me at at all. It's about the new perceptions about living well, the ah ha momnents, the meaningful purpose, that people experience after seeing life as it's lived in small villages in the south of Italy. They return home sharing their experience with others which I can only hope gets passed on.
So true! In my free time, I have a side project in which my mission is to "equip Christian parents with Bible-based tools that help them raise more wise, godly, and legacy-minded kids in a digital age." But the bulk of my support doesn't center around equipping parents with lectures, device restriction, etc. Instead, it mostly centers around helping the parent learn how to be more intentional and purposeful with offsetting their ever-decreasing time with the pouring in of impactful investments into their child. Bottom line, within the context of parenting, I don't view my legacy as how my children will remember me. Instead, I view it as my living mission to positively impact and influence them in a manner that they live out themselves -- and then pass down an even better version to their own future generations.
my work at Rise is focused on embodied legacy; i’m with you on the teaching element and with leaders and parents if we begin from one step below the root cause we can actually stand a chance to shape the future with a new legacy in mind. status quo or mediocre isn’t worth it.
For anybody chasing success, audience + income, or financial freedom through social media popularity be aware of fundamental principles.
Notice how the “TOP PEOPLE” operate rather than the “OPINIONS” shared as part of their marketing attraction passive income system on social.
Ask yourself a few critical questions, and know first that I’m not sharing my opinion, belief, or a fervent position on SOCIAL MEDIA but something else.
Market OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIENCE replace OPINION PROJECTION and POPULARITY HIERARCHY when you DO WHAT IS RIGHT from vision.
1) The statement that you should “Do whatever you want” is false, as proven through eons of history, ancient wisdom, and common sense folks.
2) Smart does not mean not wanting what you desire the most, but rather is a statement that comes from not knowing yourself well enough to teach.
3) Course correct from what in Buddhism is called IGNORANCE leads to ending up even further away from what you want due to ETERNAL LAW.
KNOW THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF EVIDENT
1) All people know the answer and only each finds TRUTH from VISION
2) EACH UNIQUE person has the INALIENABLE RIGHT to HAPPINESS
3) Every single individual on EARTH has an EQUAL place in the ECONOMY
The INFLUENCER ECONOMY that began with people like DONALD TRUMP, PARIS HILTON, and JEFFREY EPSTEIN back in the 80s / 90s MATURED
Consider the MISTAKE in JUDGEMENT that remains TRUE across the entire SOCIAL MEDIA and INFLUENCE economy.
1) Jeffrey Epstein was the TOP SALES PERFORMER in the CHASE PRIVATE CLIENT group and brought in BILLIONS through his INFLUENCE NETWORK
2) Donald Trump won the PRESIDENCY starting with his DILIGENT EFFORTS back in the 80s to be POPULAR as a Manhattan TV Celebrity
3) Gary Vaynerchuck, Alex Hormozi, and Charlie Kirk built ECONOMIC MACHINES using SOCIAL MEDIA systems to get POPULAR IN MARKET
While this was going on the SILENT MAJORITY of BUSINESS PEOPLE including vision entrepreneurs, owners, and solopreneurs do our WORK.
Having LEARNED THE ART OF FOCUS over decades of DAILY PRACTICE learning not to do whatever I want but DO HARD well I’ve been a SUCCESS.
I’ve made MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, had multiple PASSIVE INCOME streams, and succeeded in INVESTMENTS AND REAL ESTATE over time.
That came BECAUSE I refused to give in to the FALLACY that my MIND believed that LIFE is about CHASING life, liberty, and income ONLINE.
Being a LIBERATION MECHANIC does require one CRITICAL ELEMENT. We just know ourselves well enough to EXIST IN TRUTH as Creative Beings.
Before a major COURSE CORRECTION in early 2023 that led to to FREEDOM FROM THE POPULARITY economy it was necessary to KNOW.
That Wake Up Moment that led me to pay $150K to LEARN FROM popularity income teachers like Russell Brunson, Justin Welsh, Lea Turner, Alex Hormozi, Sam Ovens, Dan Kennedy, and many others WORKED.
Your FERVENT DESIRE is what will BECOME QUICKLY your pressing LIFE PURPOSE as you TAKE ACTION from this INNER DIRECTED creative VISION.
Justin just blocked me on LinkedIn. What’s he afraid of me saying. Perhaps it’s the article that comes out on LinkedIn and Substack Sunday.
Is Justin Welsh trying to control his Audience + Income comment feed?
Here’s what I’m going to say. He may be trying to block you from reading it. That’s what’s happening in the United States right now. Live Free or Die!
-Larry
Here’s the first few paragraphs. Maybe he wants to hide my models as that will cut into his passive income from sharing his opinions on LinkedIn.
It’s not a crisis. Just bond together, tell the truth, and we will get through this moment. Justin doesn’t control or own the LinkedIn feed!
Owning Your Future:
Entrepreneur Money Models vs. Investor Control Systems.
Starbucks as Bellwether - Pathways to Income Freedom
My first Starbucks on the North Side of Chicago employed my neighbor Andrew as a barista, but it was never my favorite “Third Place.” Back then, The 3rd Coast Café in the Gold Coast and the "Irish Ladies" in Roscoe felt much more like authentic coffee shops than saying “Grande” to Andrew who was healthcare cool finally employed. One hangout, Third Coast Café in the Viagra Triangle, did not cater to the bar crowd of wealthy older men and young women looking for rides on Play Pen boats—a global elite not money minted Rush Street.
Today, many still prefer independent third places to score, share, or work—Complimentary in Skokie, Tala in Winnetka, and my Third Place favorite for conversation, Pour in Evanston. Paris cafes offer similar menus, and we’d hang at L'Ambassade, happy to squat at Luc's cheap tables while tourists posed near wealthy locals renting pricy space at Café de Flore.
Being a lifelong coffee-space lover gives me clarity on the Starbucks dilemma: its business is squeezed on both the Left and Right Banks by local quality cafés and Luckin Coffee, backed by bigger, Chinese-first investors than Starbucks can access through Wall Street markets. Here, patient, tightly controlled sovereign wealth always beats hedged day traders.
In Italy, locals work with the government to ensure espresso quality doesn’t vary. This guarantees a reliable Americano, originally invented to suit U.S. troops who didn’t want to drink strong coffee in a tiny cup before work. Local entrepreneurs retain the secret formula.
Our Roscoe Village Starbucks format was disrupted by a corporate design trend. Dempster Street works for shift-change dinners, as patrons can conveniently order Detroit-style pizza from Jet’s in the same strip mall. Starbucks Skokie by the Commuter Swift serves all waiters.
Oodles of Zoodles: Fashion and Coffee Trends in the United States
From the heartland, Zoodles paid for my ski trip to Italy, sent my brother to medical school, and became an anchor face that fueled the Kaul Group brand across seventeen states.
Cassy and Don Sniderman had a boutique store in a mall in Northeastern Ohio, where they sold whimsical, colorful children’s apparel that is still remembered through vintage clothing listings today. Cassy & Co. transitioned into the Zoodles brand, achieving regional recognition for their unique kid-friendly designs. I found them on a random OH sales trip.
We didn’t own the product, control its future, or secure rights for Europe—but that doesn’t change the lesson: fads, trends, and patterns drive business in powerful ways. Not paying attention to your core business, or working in the trenches, leads to circular insane motion.
My territory collapsed after the coasts, where the craze burned out in a New York minute, and before Atlanta and Dallas slowly followed. “Mommy,” a first grader cried in Naperville, “they made fun of my Zoodles.” We shifted attention to other product lines as Zoodles aged. For fashion lovers in Milan and Paris, it probably finds runway life in 2036 as retro goof chic.
Investors treat Starbucks predictably—milking it like a Venti Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha, pumping 700–800 calories straight into the veins of its most frequent, highest-margin customers. Even Seattle’s lovers of Third Places never truly loved Starbucks.
The best customers are the frequent, daily users who buy high-octane, now custom habits again and again, driving the real profits. The Third Place concept never mattered for that business model. McDonald’s targeted different “Super Heavy Users”—that’s how Starbucks became a star for investors and daily customers who crave a French not Italian Connection.
Your legacy has a direct correlation to how others remember you for how much you contributed for their growth/progress. In other words how much you built in them.
What matters is not what you leave for others. But what you leave in others.
I can relate to this topic! Last year I created a certification program so I could start passing on my knowledge to other coaches in my niche (podcasting). Now I can see them out there HELPING so many people and I love it when they report back to me with a client success story.
I feel like one of those NFL coaches that has a "coaching tree" of successful coaches that have been assistants. I celebrate their victories as much as I celebrate my own!
Justin-You nailed it! When we pour our wisdom and expertise into others, the impact goes on for generations. While I practiced medicine, the impact of patient’s health recovery was immeasurable. When you change a life your legacy makes the world better for us all.
more creation, less consumption!
Great stuff. I love how you used the word “immortal.” Sending cheer- 💌
Great article. And one of many reasons why raising children is and always has been so vital to the vast majority of humans who have ever lived. This is the most obvious and natural way to do this. Amusingly, it's also one of the most overlooked in modern society as people chase everything else.
I loved the restaurant story @Justin Welsh. You make an important point. You got me thinking about the importance of building a movement (through people) rather than defensive brand strategies.
Genuine impact vs pure defensive strategies aimed at protecting one's brand (which paradoxically enough actually denigrates the brand over time).
It comes down to focusing on building a movement and reinventing yourself to keep driving lasting change by repeatedly transforming people (and ourselves) via that movement.
Steve Jobs reinvented at least 5 industries because he was obsessed with genuine change (not just brand protection) and as a result he's built one of the most powerful brands if not THE most powerful brand in the world which still remains at the forefront of our minds despite his demise so many years ago.
As always your article inspired deep thought. Thanks for helping me challenge and question things as always.
"The professors who guard their research versus the ones who teach their students to actually think." - Critical thinking being what is being lost the most in this automated world we've become.
The most vibrant examples of this topic on the culinary front are chef's like Ferran Adria' and Marco Pierre White that created cult followings and legacy just being super committed to their own chops - directly impacting the development of others that became new versions of themselves by simply being themselves, unapologetically.
Their very existence being the inspiration they provide others to take it even further than even they imagined - seemingly without even trying, just remaining within their own process, and results being the by-product or in this case, their "legacy"....
The legacy I've been working on (I think unconsciously) is not about me at at all. It's about the new perceptions about living well, the ah ha momnents, the meaningful purpose, that people experience after seeing life as it's lived in small villages in the south of Italy. They return home sharing their experience with others which I can only hope gets passed on.
So true! In my free time, I have a side project in which my mission is to "equip Christian parents with Bible-based tools that help them raise more wise, godly, and legacy-minded kids in a digital age." But the bulk of my support doesn't center around equipping parents with lectures, device restriction, etc. Instead, it mostly centers around helping the parent learn how to be more intentional and purposeful with offsetting their ever-decreasing time with the pouring in of impactful investments into their child. Bottom line, within the context of parenting, I don't view my legacy as how my children will remember me. Instead, I view it as my living mission to positively impact and influence them in a manner that they live out themselves -- and then pass down an even better version to their own future generations.
When you pour yourself into developing others, you become immortal in a way that no amount of self-promotion can ever match.
THAT!! Great article 👏
Spot on, Justin.
The leaders I respect most didn’t obsess over being remembered.
They built people who carried their ideas further than they ever could alone.
love this one Justin.
my work at Rise is focused on embodied legacy; i’m with you on the teaching element and with leaders and parents if we begin from one step below the root cause we can actually stand a chance to shape the future with a new legacy in mind. status quo or mediocre isn’t worth it.
"The more you focus on being remembered, the faster you're forgotten. The more you focus on developing others, the longer you last..."
Timeless wisdom!
I SHARED THIS IN PRIVATE WITH JUSTIN WELSH.
AN OPEN STATEMENT ABOUT ONLINE OPINIONS:
For anybody chasing success, audience + income, or financial freedom through social media popularity be aware of fundamental principles.
Notice how the “TOP PEOPLE” operate rather than the “OPINIONS” shared as part of their marketing attraction passive income system on social.
Ask yourself a few critical questions, and know first that I’m not sharing my opinion, belief, or a fervent position on SOCIAL MEDIA but something else.
Market OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIENCE replace OPINION PROJECTION and POPULARITY HIERARCHY when you DO WHAT IS RIGHT from vision.
1) The statement that you should “Do whatever you want” is false, as proven through eons of history, ancient wisdom, and common sense folks.
2) Smart does not mean not wanting what you desire the most, but rather is a statement that comes from not knowing yourself well enough to teach.
3) Course correct from what in Buddhism is called IGNORANCE leads to ending up even further away from what you want due to ETERNAL LAW.
KNOW THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF EVIDENT
1) All people know the answer and only each finds TRUTH from VISION
2) EACH UNIQUE person has the INALIENABLE RIGHT to HAPPINESS
3) Every single individual on EARTH has an EQUAL place in the ECONOMY
The INFLUENCER ECONOMY that began with people like DONALD TRUMP, PARIS HILTON, and JEFFREY EPSTEIN back in the 80s / 90s MATURED
Consider the MISTAKE in JUDGEMENT that remains TRUE across the entire SOCIAL MEDIA and INFLUENCE economy.
1) Jeffrey Epstein was the TOP SALES PERFORMER in the CHASE PRIVATE CLIENT group and brought in BILLIONS through his INFLUENCE NETWORK
2) Donald Trump won the PRESIDENCY starting with his DILIGENT EFFORTS back in the 80s to be POPULAR as a Manhattan TV Celebrity
3) Gary Vaynerchuck, Alex Hormozi, and Charlie Kirk built ECONOMIC MACHINES using SOCIAL MEDIA systems to get POPULAR IN MARKET
While this was going on the SILENT MAJORITY of BUSINESS PEOPLE including vision entrepreneurs, owners, and solopreneurs do our WORK.
Having LEARNED THE ART OF FOCUS over decades of DAILY PRACTICE learning not to do whatever I want but DO HARD well I’ve been a SUCCESS.
I’ve made MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, had multiple PASSIVE INCOME streams, and succeeded in INVESTMENTS AND REAL ESTATE over time.
That came BECAUSE I refused to give in to the FALLACY that my MIND believed that LIFE is about CHASING life, liberty, and income ONLINE.
Being a LIBERATION MECHANIC does require one CRITICAL ELEMENT. We just know ourselves well enough to EXIST IN TRUTH as Creative Beings.
Before a major COURSE CORRECTION in early 2023 that led to to FREEDOM FROM THE POPULARITY economy it was necessary to KNOW.
That Wake Up Moment that led me to pay $150K to LEARN FROM popularity income teachers like Russell Brunson, Justin Welsh, Lea Turner, Alex Hormozi, Sam Ovens, Dan Kennedy, and many others WORKED.
Your FERVENT DESIRE is what will BECOME QUICKLY your pressing LIFE PURPOSE as you TAKE ACTION from this INNER DIRECTED creative VISION.
Justin just blocked me on LinkedIn. What’s he afraid of me saying. Perhaps it’s the article that comes out on LinkedIn and Substack Sunday.
Is Justin Welsh trying to control his Audience + Income comment feed?
Here’s what I’m going to say. He may be trying to block you from reading it. That’s what’s happening in the United States right now. Live Free or Die!
-Larry
Here’s the first few paragraphs. Maybe he wants to hide my models as that will cut into his passive income from sharing his opinions on LinkedIn.
It’s not a crisis. Just bond together, tell the truth, and we will get through this moment. Justin doesn’t control or own the LinkedIn feed!
Owning Your Future:
Entrepreneur Money Models vs. Investor Control Systems.
Starbucks as Bellwether - Pathways to Income Freedom
My first Starbucks on the North Side of Chicago employed my neighbor Andrew as a barista, but it was never my favorite “Third Place.” Back then, The 3rd Coast Café in the Gold Coast and the "Irish Ladies" in Roscoe felt much more like authentic coffee shops than saying “Grande” to Andrew who was healthcare cool finally employed. One hangout, Third Coast Café in the Viagra Triangle, did not cater to the bar crowd of wealthy older men and young women looking for rides on Play Pen boats—a global elite not money minted Rush Street.
Today, many still prefer independent third places to score, share, or work—Complimentary in Skokie, Tala in Winnetka, and my Third Place favorite for conversation, Pour in Evanston. Paris cafes offer similar menus, and we’d hang at L'Ambassade, happy to squat at Luc's cheap tables while tourists posed near wealthy locals renting pricy space at Café de Flore.
Being a lifelong coffee-space lover gives me clarity on the Starbucks dilemma: its business is squeezed on both the Left and Right Banks by local quality cafés and Luckin Coffee, backed by bigger, Chinese-first investors than Starbucks can access through Wall Street markets. Here, patient, tightly controlled sovereign wealth always beats hedged day traders.
In Italy, locals work with the government to ensure espresso quality doesn’t vary. This guarantees a reliable Americano, originally invented to suit U.S. troops who didn’t want to drink strong coffee in a tiny cup before work. Local entrepreneurs retain the secret formula.
Our Roscoe Village Starbucks format was disrupted by a corporate design trend. Dempster Street works for shift-change dinners, as patrons can conveniently order Detroit-style pizza from Jet’s in the same strip mall. Starbucks Skokie by the Commuter Swift serves all waiters.
Oodles of Zoodles: Fashion and Coffee Trends in the United States
From the heartland, Zoodles paid for my ski trip to Italy, sent my brother to medical school, and became an anchor face that fueled the Kaul Group brand across seventeen states.
Cassy and Don Sniderman had a boutique store in a mall in Northeastern Ohio, where they sold whimsical, colorful children’s apparel that is still remembered through vintage clothing listings today. Cassy & Co. transitioned into the Zoodles brand, achieving regional recognition for their unique kid-friendly designs. I found them on a random OH sales trip.
We didn’t own the product, control its future, or secure rights for Europe—but that doesn’t change the lesson: fads, trends, and patterns drive business in powerful ways. Not paying attention to your core business, or working in the trenches, leads to circular insane motion.
My territory collapsed after the coasts, where the craze burned out in a New York minute, and before Atlanta and Dallas slowly followed. “Mommy,” a first grader cried in Naperville, “they made fun of my Zoodles.” We shifted attention to other product lines as Zoodles aged. For fashion lovers in Milan and Paris, it probably finds runway life in 2036 as retro goof chic.
Investors treat Starbucks predictably—milking it like a Venti Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha, pumping 700–800 calories straight into the veins of its most frequent, highest-margin customers. Even Seattle’s lovers of Third Places never truly loved Starbucks.
The best customers are the frequent, daily users who buy high-octane, now custom habits again and again, driving the real profits. The Third Place concept never mattered for that business model. McDonald’s targeted different “Super Heavy Users”—that’s how Starbucks became a star for investors and daily customers who crave a French not Italian Connection.
Great piece Justin.
Your legacy has a direct correlation to how others remember you for how much you contributed for their growth/progress. In other words how much you built in them.
What matters is not what you leave for others. But what you leave in others.
Yes sir