What’s Your Legacy?
Your legacy is the impact you leave on the world when you’re gone. It’s how you make your mark, influence others’ lives, and the contributions you leave behind. In short, your legacy is your way of saying, “I made a difference.”
When I was a Senior in High School, I was captain of the Varsity soccer team. That year, we had a new soccer coach, Chris Matthews. Coach Matthews was new to soccer (he was previously a football coach) and we were the first soccer team he coached. Coach Matthews was in his 30s- young, energetic, and inspiring.
I could go on and on about what made Coach Matthews (or C-Matt, as we called him) unique… his entertaining half-time speeches, his endless amounts of energy, his sense of humor that he used to connect with a bunch of high school girls… but what I want to highlight is the legacy that C-Matt left– how I remember him making a difference in my life.
WYL- What’s Your Legacy?
Before the soccer season, Coach Matthews painted “WYL?” in big bold letters at the top of our locker room. He told us it stood for “What’s Your Legacy?” and that would be the theme of our soccer season. Every week, he delivered a lesson that was connected to this theme. And before games, C-Matt was always asking us, “What’s Your Legacy? How are you going to go out there today and make a difference?” It was the central theme of the soccer season, and of my senior year.
This was one of the first times an adult had ever spoken to me about my legacy. It made me consider that what I was doing for fun (playing soccer) could actually be about more than just playing a sport. It made me realize that I could have a greater impact on the world than what I just thought was in my little bubble. I started to ask myself, “Kate, what do you want your legacy to be?”
“Hotel Rooms Are Booked”
While our soccer team played pretty well at the district and regional level, we had never been able to compete at the state level. We simply didn’t have the same level of talent as other high schools that had twice as many students as us. But, I’ll never forget at the beginning of the season when Coach Matthews told us he already booked our hotel rooms for the state playoffs, which was 4 months away.
I remember being shocked and thinking, “Ummm, why would he book our hotel rooms for the state playoffs? Doesn’t he know we’ve never advanced that far?” But I was also amazed by his belief in us. Before the season even started, Coach Matthews was confident that we were going to have the best season our team had ever had. He had a compelling future vision for our team that was so strong and real, that the past didn’t matter. He was totally focused on the season ahead and was planning– no, expecting – us to make it to the state playoffs.
While we didn’t make it to the state playoffs and those hotel rooms went unused, we did make it further into the regional playoffs than our school had in 10 years. It was a season to be proud of. And I still will never forget the belief that C-Matt had in us, to book those hotel rooms and plan for the future like that.
Gone Too Soon
Fast forward one year after Senior soccer season, and I was sitting in my freshman dorm room at Texas A&M University. I received a phone call from a former soccer teammate with some devastating news: Coach Matthews had been brutally assaulted over the weekend and was rushed to the hospital, where he died.
The tragedy of C-Matt’s death was felt on all levels. I was hurting, feeling the grief of losing someone who was my coach, mentor, and leader. It was hard to believe that just one year earlier, we were sitting in the locker room listening to him talk about legacies.
The irony isn’t lost on me that Coach Matthews encouraged the soccer team to leave our legacy, and he ended up being the one to leave his legacy, gone too soon. He is a prime example of leaving your mark as a leader. Not only did he make the soccer season fun and entertaining, but he held an unshakeable belief in us. He trusted in our abilities. He taught us to think about the impact we wanted to make in the world. He challenged us to think differently than most high school girls were thinking.
I think about Coach Matthews often, and it’s always a reminder to ask myself, “Kate, what’s your legacy?”
People so often go through life on autopilot, not acting intentionally. When creating your legacy, it’s all about taking deliberate actions to influence the world around you. And the good news is: you can start designing your legacy today. Your words and behaviors carry more weight than you know. You never know who will be touched or inspired by you. Consider the contributions you want to make to the world, the impact you want to have… and then ensure that your daily actions are a reflection of that legacy.
What’s Your Legacy?
