What Will Endure About You?
Three ways to express what makes you remarkable and create an impact that lasts
I’m a history geek.
I majored in history in college and have always been fascinated by how civilizations, and the people who build them, rise, evolve and sometimes disappear.
Few stories have captured my imagination more than Pompeii.
So when my husband and I recently visited Italy’s Amalfi Coast, exploring Pompeii was at the top of my list. We also visited nearby Herculaneum, an ancient Roman resort town on the Bay of Naples that was destroyed by the same eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
What I saw was extraordinary.
Homes, businesses and entire communities were buried beneath volcanic ash and debris. More than 1,500 human remains have been found across Pompeii and Herculaneum, although the eruption’s total death toll remains unknown.
But something remarkable survived.
Human expression.
In Herculaneum especially, I was captivated by the Roman frescoes still visible on the walls that you see in this article. Their vivid colors depict mythological figures, tributes to the gods and scenes from everyday life.
Sure, they were probably plenty proud of them at the time. But I bet the people who commissioned and created those works never imagined that visitors would still be studying them nearly 2,000 years later.
Herculaneum’s first systematic excavations began in 1738, followed by formal excavations at Pompeii in 1748. After remaining hidden for more than 1,600 years, these communities began revealing intimate details about how ordinary people lived, worked, worshipped, celebrated and expressed themselves.
Standing there, I kept thinking about one question:
What will endure about us?
Most of us will never create a fresco that survives for thousands of years. But every day, we are creating something else that can last.
We leave impressions.
We influence how people see themselves, and create moments that others carry forward.
That is at the heart of both Own Your Remarkable™ and Activate the Remarkable™. Owning your remarkable means recognizing and expressing the strengths, values and experiences that make you uniquely you. Activating the remarkable means using those gifts to help other people recognize what is possible within themselves.
Here are three ways to express what makes you remarkable in a way that can endure.
1. Make your values visible
The frescoes of Pompeii and Herculaneum told visitors what mattered to the people who lived there. They reflected beauty, spirituality, family life, status, celebration and identity.
Our values become visible through our choices.
It is easy to say that you value courage, generosity, integrity or growth. The more important question is whether people can see those values in the way you live and lead.
Do you speak up when something matters? Make time for people? Remain grounded in your principles when circumstances become difficult?
And do you choose to keep learning, even when it would be easier to stay comfortable?
What makes you remarkable is not expressed only through what you accomplish. It is revealed through how you accomplish it.
Over time, those repeated choices become your personal fresco. They tell the story of who you were and what you stood for.
2. Use your voice before you feel completely ready
Someone had to place the first brushstroke on every wall we admired.
That person could not know whether the finished work would be celebrated, criticized, covered over or forgotten. They simply began.
The same is true for us.
Too many talented people wait until they feel completely confident before sharing an idea, pursuing an opportunity or expressing what they believe.
But confidence rarely comes first. Action does.
Your voice becomes stronger when you use it. Your ideas become clearer when you share them. Your influence grows when you stop waiting for permission to contribute.
You do not need to be the loudest person in the room. What matters most is making the statement that is authentically yours.
So, share that idea. Write the article. Have the conversation. Tell the story within and ask the important questions.
Because your perspective cannot create an impact while it remains hidden.
3. Help someone else see what is remarkable in themselves
The most enduring part of our legacy may not be what we personally create.
It may be what we activate in someone else.
Think about a leader, teacher, mentor, colleague or family member who saw something in you before you fully recognized it yourself.
Perhaps they trusted you with an opportunity. Acknowledged a strength you had overlooked.
Encouraged you during a difficult season or reminded you of your potential when self-doubt had made it difficult to see.
Their words may have lasted only a few seconds. But their impact may have lasted for decades.
That is the power of recognition-first leadership.
When we truly see the individual, spark optimism and possibility, and create opportunities for growth, we do more than improve someone’s performance in the moment. We may change the way that person sees themselves forever.
And they may carry that belief forward, using it to influence many others. That is how remarkable leadership endures.
Your impact is already taking shape
Walking through Pompeii and Herculaneum reminded me that we can’t always control how much time we have or which of our accomplishments will be remembered. But we can decide how fully we express who we are while we are here.
We can make our values visible. Be willing to trust and use our voices. And we can help others recognize the remarkable within themselves.
You are creating an imprint every day through the work you do, the choices you make and the way people feel after spending time with you.
The question is not whether you will leave an impression. It is what kind of impression you are creating, and how long its impact will endure.
What is one quality, contribution or feeling you hope people will carry forward because they knew you?