(pg. 123 – 126.)
In the opening pages of Part Three of What Matters Most, Hyrum W. Smith shifts the conversation from reflection to action. After encouraging readers to identify their values and personal mission, he raises a more difficult question: What should be done about them?
Smith compares a meaningful life to a pyramid built on solid rock. Values provide the foundation, but the structure must still be designed and constructed. As he puts it, “Great lives and great legacies don’t just happen.”
This metaphor is both encouraging and challenging. It suggests that a meaningful life is not simply discovered; it is deliberately built. Everyday choices become the construction materials. The ways people use their time, care for relationships, and respond to opportunities gradually create the lives—and legacies—they leave behind.
The word legacy can sound intimidating, as though it requires an extraordinary accomplishment. Smith’s discussion, however, invites a quieter interpretation. A legacy may simply be the effect a person has on others: how people are treated, what they are taught, and what they remember about the life they witnessed.
This section also highlights the distance between knowing and doing. People may know what matters to them, but their schedules do not always reflect that knowledge. Smith’s architectural metaphor encourages readers to consider whether the life under construction truly matches its intended design.
Questions for Reflection:
- What does leaving a legacy mean?
- Does the way people use their time reveal what they value?
- Which areas of life benefit most from intentional planning?
- Where can gaps develop between values and actions?
Please share your thoughts in the comments below. In the next entry, we will begin chapter eight of the book, reading pages 127-135, learning about the inherent power of planning.
