Uncertainty: My life story is not that interesting.

Response: Says who?! Wouldn’t you be interested to know more about the lives of your grandparents or great-grandparents? Don’t you wish you could sit down with some ancestor and learn about the times in which they lived and the challenges they faced? We tend to think our own lives are dull, and maybe they aren’t of great interest to strangers. But we’re talking about a very select audience – your current and future family members – and many of them will be fascinated to know about you as a person and the world in which you have lived. So don’t underestimate the value of your story to the relatives who will follow after you.

Uncertainty: It’s too expensive.

 

Response: It’s definitely not cheap. But your Legacy life story will get more and more valuable as the years pass. We often hear this from clients who have invested the time, effort and money to create a book or video document for future generations. It is a labor of love that is absolutely unique to your family. Some families choose to pay for this service through their business as a marketing expense. Others realize that half of what they spend on a Legacy product would otherwise go to the government in estate taxes anyway.

Uncertainty: The kids aren’t interested.

Response: Maybe not. Your children may take your presence and your life experience for granted, but someday this will change. How many of us wish we had asked our parents about their experiences and their interpretation of events while they were still with us? That interest comes with age, and often it comes too late.

Also, your adult children have heard bits and pieces of your life story. The grandkids and future generations aren’t so lucky. They will thank you for saving the kinds of memories that connect a family through the ages. Each generation’s recollections are part of the fabric that holds the family together, keeps it strong, and gives it a unique identity.

The stories that you can tell to future generations of your family are as important to them as a knowledge of American history is to the future of our country. Knowing where we come from helps us to understand who we are and what’s really important in life. Think about the influence that your parents and grandparents had on you. Think about how different their lives were from the lives of kids today. These differences are important; they define each generation. The stories you can tell may seem ordinary to you, but they give your family a personal connection to the past.

Uncertainty: Maybe I’ll do it myself.

Response: We have heard this many times, but very few people are able to follow through on it. They may fully intend to do it, but it is very time-consuming and requires a range of skills that few people possess in addition to the skills that made them successful. You could do your own taxes, but it makes a lot more sense to hand it over to a professional accountant. The same is true with your business and family stories. It’s possible to do it on the cheap, but you’ll get a better product if you bring in professional interviewers, writers, editors and book or video designers.

Uncertainty: This isn’t the right time. Let’s wait until later.

Response: You can wait, but ask yourself what will be different at a later date. The people with stories to tell will be older, and their memories will not be as sharp as they are now. When it comes to saving your personal and family history, that’s a cost you can’t afford.

This may not be the best time to go through the entire process of a book, but now is almost always better than later when it comes to gathering relevant memories through interviews. You can decide what to do with the material later, but at least you’ll have the raw material. Get the stories before the memories fade.