Passing On A Legacy: How To Pass Down Values and Traditions

A recent study showed that 77% of Baby Boomers say it is important to receive values and life lessons from their parents, as an individual. Then, as a group, Baby Boomers preferred to preserve their parent’s and further generations memories rather than a financial inheritance.

Building a legacy is becoming popular as people are showing more interest in this transfer and passing-down of non-financial assets from generation to generation. Preserving all of life’s stories, values and memories are extremely important due to unexpected events that bring to light the reality of life’s fragility.

While a financial inheritance is great, the tangible memories and the intangible lessons and values one learns from their ancestors is of utmost importance and significance. A new and growing trend, called Ethical Wills, are when the older generation writes down their hopes, wishes and dreams for the following generations in regards to values, finances, life goals, etc. Here are a few helpful ways to preserve your parent’s legacy in our technologically-driven day and age:

Spend quality time asking your loved ones what really matters in life. What do they value and what ethics have guided them thus far? What do they believe in and what is life, love, etc. to them?

Purchase a flash drive for pictures, videos, slides, etc. to preserve all of these onto one home drive or find a website that allows you to upload all types of digital and hard-copy uploads of memories for long-term archive storage. These videos and photos will become treasured possessions for generations to come!

Asking the right questions: move beyond the "yes" and "no" and dive deeper. Ask about how they felt during a specific event or season of life. Ask them about their childhood and favorite memories, the hardest thing they’ve ever gone through, what they learned from a friend, or what their dreams were at a certain age.

Identify your loved ones’ strengths and capitalize on those. Create a family tree of strengths and lessons they learned from their ancestors and keep this going! Such a neat idea of the patterns in generations.

Tell the true story: if you are creating a memory book or writing everything down, keep it true to the narrator’s experience. Use a tape recorder if necessary or make a home video of some of the story times.

By taking these steps to preserve your parents’ and ancestors’ legacies and values, you will benefit and help future generations to come. It serves as a great way for you to carry on your family legacy to your children and be a role model for your children and grandchildren by demonstrating a way to live and carry the legacy of your family and ancestors from generation to generation.

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