Most of us know the value of clearly defining our goals for the success and fulfillment we want to achieve in our careers, relationships, health, and personal growth.

Yet there’s another area of goal setting we sometimes overlook—our legacy.

Your legacy goal is one that defines the kind of lasting contribution you want to make in the world. As you grow personally, you increase your ability to transform the world around you. Have you considered how you might want to do that?

Maybe you can’t donate $100 million to one of the nation’s worst performing school districts like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg or contribute billions of dollars to help solve the world’s health and humanitarian challenges like Bill and Melinda Gates.

But one motivated person with a singular intention can do much more than you might imagine.

In my Effortless Success course, I tell a story of a woman inspired to help feed starving children.

One day, the woman decided she was going to somehow manifest $30,000 in thirty days. While meditating the next morning, a voice inside her said, “Your goal is not big enough.” So she upped her commitment to $300,000 in 30 days.

During the next morning’s meditation, the voice repeated its message. So she thought, what if I raise three million dollars in thirty-three days and feed three million children?

The next day, the voice inside was silent, and the woman started the “Feed 333 Project.” Now, this woman had never raised a dollar for anything in her life. She didn’t know where to begin or how to collect the money.

But she did have a very clear intention.

When she told a friend about her goal, the friend jumped at the chance to help. Another person quickly agreed to build a website to promote the project and collect the donations, and within a few days, a whole team was in place to help.

I had met the woman several days into her project and agreed to do a special teleconference to assist.

Those who listened in contributed whatever amount they wished.

In thirty days, the project raised $150,000.

Now, that may seem like a long way from three million dollars, but when charitable organizations informed the woman she could feed 1.4 million children for $150,000, she was delighted.

Here was a woman who had never done anything philanthropic in her life. Yet by setting this huge intention, she attracted the resources and people she needed to raise enough money to feed nearly half of those three million children. And you can bet she didn’t stop there.

So let me ask you…

In your ideal life, what kind of contribution would you make to the world?

How do you want to make a difference?

Will you plant a hundred trees in your local park? Work to end poverty and hunger? Be a big brother or sister to a child who needs a parental figure in their life?

After you take some time to consider these questions and meditate on your intentions, write your legacy goal on paper. Then share it with someone close to you and see what happens next!

It may surprise you how quickly you start attracting the support you need to make the world a better place.


As the beloved originator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, Jack Canfield fostered the emergence of inspirational anthologies as a genre—and watched it grow to a billion dollar market. As the driving force behind the development and delivery of over 100 million books sold through the Chicken Soup for the Soul® franchise, Jack Canfield is uniquely qualified to talk about success. Jack is America’s #1 Success Coach and wrote the life-changing book The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be and speaks around the world on this subject. Follow Jack at www.jackcanfield.com and sign up for his free resources today!

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*Image courtesy of Feed My Starving Children (FMSC).