I was saddened to hear Darren Barefoot died last week following complications from metastatic cancer. I had never put my finger on the legacy his message had on me until now; more on this in a moment.

I recently enjoyed an overdue, deep conversation with my seventeen-year-old son over dinner. We were talking about supporting causes we care about and his college plans.

One thought that has stirred in my head for years, that I shared with him, is about how knowledge workers can support the causes they care most about with money instead of time. 

I made the case that while volunteering your time is a beautiful act, supporting the cause with a healthy donation can be much more impactful. I explained that I support causes I care about by donating a small percentage of my business profits. My goal is to increase this percentage as I reach my financial goals. 

There is nothing negative with donating your time working in a food bank, for example, but if you can generate more money, that donated money can have a much more significant impact on supporting the food bank. Better to have a surplus of food than helpers to restock the shelves, right?

The thought about donating money for knowledge workers over volunteering time came from a presentation I saw in 2007 at Gnomedex by Darren Barefoot. 

What legacy will you leave?

Sadly, Darren passed away last week from cancer. His untimely death led me to rewatch his presentation. He opened his talk by empowering us to consider what legacy we will leave. This message is something I've reflected on and written about since seeing his speech so many years ago.

Subtly, Darren’s message of giving what you can stuck with me. His legacy is this point. His wit, smarts, and charm impressed the importance of philanthropy upon me. I never credited this to him until now because I never realized where these thoughts had come from.

I invite you to spend thirty minutes watching Darren’s presentation; thankfully, it's preserved on YouTube. 

Rest in peace, Darren. You impacted me, and I've already passed these ideas along to my son, so your kind thoughts live on.

My deepest condolences to Darren’s family and friends. If you knew Darren, perhaps you would like to leave a comment here about how he touched your life.

Dear reader, what legacy will you leave?

I've been in a bit of a creative funk lately. I have some ideas on projects I want to work on, including a new book, but I have had to rethink things. The long and the short of it, is I need to be sure what I create is aligned with where I want to be longterm. Things are still fuzzy, the funk is still here. Maybe something is holding you back too. Rather than dwell on this today, I wanted to share this inspiring short film. This might be just the kick you need to stop waiting.

Watch as Brad O’Neill looks to take his childhood dream and turn it into a reality by jumping a bike high enough to be able to base jump from it. O'Neill asks a few thought-provoking questions and shares some profound statements. It raises the question, what was your childhood dream?

"Why keep waiting? The perfect time is now."

"Usually, the things you are most apprehensive about are the ones that will bring you the most joy."

"There is a serious struggle balancing what your mind is telling you and what your heart is telling you."

"How long your life is isn't what's important. It's about how you spend your time."

Hat tip to Chris Guillebeau for sharing this on his blog today.