Last week I had the privilege to speak at the National Bar Association Gertrude Rush Mid-Year Conference on the Veteran and Military Law Section Workshop. I am a certified veteran’s attorney and am honored to provide support to our service members.
The wonderful man who introduced me said, “Aimee is here to speak about preparing for the possible event of death!” I realized that may be the reason so many people are reluctant to meet with me.
I shared with the audience that when coming to meet with an estate planning attorney one should be thinking about much more than death. You should be thinking about the things that you think about each day when going to work, going to the doctors for a physical or going to the gym for a work out. You go to work, the doctors and the gym to build for a stronger future. We want to ensure that we have in place all of the safeguards that are required to have our best life. George Bernard Shaw said, “Forget about likes and dislikes, they are of no consequence. Just do what must be done. This may not be happiness but it is greatness.”
I support people to be great. Not just during their life time but beyond supporting their loved ones to be great also. It is the mission of the Griffin Firm to help you to think about and create your legacy. What or who are you living for? You go through life building a legacy. Each day you are motivated by values that you hold and you have capacity to build a great legacy with those values, if that is your desire.
There are so many moving parts to building a legacy. We are here in this world for a brief moment and many of us feel a responsibility to meet needs beyond our own. It may be to provide for the people that we love, institutions that have changed our lives or can change the lives of others.
Strategically planning with others so that we are working smart as opposed to only working hard is The Griffin Firm commitment. As brilliant and equipped as we are, we stay in our lane. We need subject matter experts in diverse areas. Many people hear me champion the vision of personal boards of directors.
We know that it takes a village to raise a child. I don’t believe we outgrow the need for a village. We see this model when we have wedding parties. We have people who come together to support our wedding because we know that a marriage requires support, prayers and champions who are undergirding us to walk through difficult times.
We see that with businesses. Businesses capture smartest and those most committed to their vision to strategize for the best interest of the company to bring resources collectively to meet the goals of the business. Let’s continue to shape our village with our personal board of directors. This group of professionals will contribute to building a legacy that allows you to achieve greatness strategically. Subject matter experts should include, of course, your estate planning attorney, financial planner, accountant, banker, real property professional and others, dependent upon your life circumstances. What is important is that this group works on your behalf collectively.
You don’t have to build alone! Serve as the chair of your personal board of directors as you create your legacy!