Dear colleagues, customers and friends,

There are skeptics about the idea of an ethical will in every audience and it was no different in a recent workshop when a gentleman spoke up to say, "I don't know about this. My kids know everything already and I don't want to tell them what to do."

"I totally get it," I said. "You don't want to write a lecture and your kids probably don't want to get one! But what about the grandson you were telling me about? What will he know about you? What would you like him to have from you?"

"Ah, that's another matter," the man's facial expression seemed to say. And not much later, he had a revelation. After I talked about the beauty of bullet lists to share tidbits of wisdom and lessons learned, it occured to him that he could structure his letter around a list of his favorite songs - when he first knew them, why he loved them and where to find them. THAT would not be a lecture, but instead, the gift of experience that would be a pleasure to create and share with his kids, his grandchildren and maybe beyond.

Ethical wills are gifts of yourself, authentic through and through. This man found what he knew would meet that definition and his skepticism melted away. For me and my work, it doesn't get much better than that.

Best to all,