How to make your mark beyond your time

The crux of this newsletter is to create a digital heirloom that stands the test of time.

There is nothing more effective at doing this than to ensure that you have the tools, the mindset, the resilience, the discipline, and the self-awareness to establish a digital footprint that is coupled with the people and possessions that will remain long after you are gone.

That’s what my writing has evolved into.

There are so many things that I want to pass on to my kids. It’s not just my experiences and skills that I want to give to them. I know that I can never fully complete the knowledge transfer that I’ve cultivated, just as my father didn’t do the same for me. It’s simply not possible.

Technology has made it so much easier to instill something much greater, though.

We aren’t at the point of crystalline memory like in the Fortress of Solitude, but what we do have is far more than previous generations did. In every iteration of Superman, Clark learns of his true heritage from the avatar of his father along with a few other approaches:

• Marlon Brando portrayed his father in the 1979 film and in the 2006 reboot.

• In the “Smallville” series, all Kryptonian knowledge is forced through him in a powerful beam of white light.

• Russell Crowe portrayed his father in the 2012 film, providing context and perspective for his identity and Kryptonian society.

• “Superman and Lois”, the latest series that just ended before Gunn’s film releases later this year, added the avatar of his mother into the series for good measure.

Yes, I’m a huge nerd. If you didn’t pick up on that before, then you certainly know now.

The point of all these examples is what I want to leave you with in this final issue of this series; the concept of legacy and teaching beyond your lifetime.

The ingredients of a digital heirloom

Documentation.

It’s straightforward and deceptively simple. I’ve been documenting since my first notebook in high school. While there were a few years in between these periods where I filled a notebook here and there, I never stopped trying to get my head around what I was meant to do. When I flip through that first one in which I recorded events and activities of my freshman self, I’m surprised at the innocence and some of the prophetic statements I made about my future and what I hoped to achieve.

I’m also humbled at how stupid I sounded when I made statements about my ambitions and what it would be like to be “free” of my parents.

It wasn’t until I hit 40 that I realized it was time to consider what my life was worth to my own kids. Superman was my first fictional hero (He-Man was a very close second), and the lore has captivated me throughout my existence.

You are your own Brainiac, running through the maze of your mind and capturing every single aspect of your psyche within your reach.

Here are the raw ingredients of your digital heirloom from a mentorship perspective:

• Life experiences - anything and everything from the smallest conversations and feelings to your greatest achievements and failures

• Stories - those that have taught you, shaped your views, changed your opinions and the way you see the world, the lens through everything is observed

• Lessons - your skills, knowledge, both academic and artistic, both personal and professional, everything from heartache to romance to adulting at every level

With these ingredients, you can create everything in your medium of choice. You can mix and match in a collage or a virtual documentary. You can create an entire YouTube channel or newsletter or podcast specifically geared for your passion and your niche. Your “content hub” is the vehicle through which you deliver all you want to preserve.

Nothing lasts forever, but so long as humanity exists, what you learn as a mentee will be entrusted through you as a mentor to the next generation, and the next, and the next…

The ripple effect on the pond of time becomes more pronounced, more powerful, and more enduring depending on your delivery.

Make no mistake, creating content is a skill, and it deserves respect as a craft.

Some parting thoughts

Superman represents what one person is capable of achieving.

• He’s a prime example of the power of mentorship from both his Kryptonian father as well as his adoptive parents.

• He left home to seek out his true heritage and travelled the world for a time until he established his Fortress of Solitude.

• He made a powerful impact on the people of Metropolis and the world as he built a career around being a reporter and a superhero.

• He became a mentor to those around him through the Justice League and learned from them, establishing a virtual mentorship network across even the universe later on.

• Through his death and subsequent revival, he became a mentor to the Man of Steel, Superboy, and even the Eradicator in various versions of this story.

• Regardless of the stage of life, Superman always kept an open mind both as a hero and as a parent to his two boys (or daughters in the multiverse).

• In every iteration, he makes a powerful statement of what is possible for others and lights the way forward.

There. I mapped everything related to him to every lesson presented in this series.

Over the past week, I’ve encouraged you to reflect on the individuals who have shaped you, how to find your mentors, become a mentor yourself, and build your own legacy.

It’s time for another short break (and I need to do this month’s book review anyway).

The next series will be about staying malleable and adaptable: the mindset shift and reshaping our internal narratives for our aspirations.

Let me know one thing that you took away from this week’s series.