The LegacyLifeCycle correlates human life span with the ecological seasons of life.

It can be referred to as the 4/25 principle. Translated this means that if we view our lifespan as reaching up to 100 years, then each 25 year span becomes a season of life:

• First 25-year season is Spring
• Second 25-year season is Summer
• Third 25-year season is Autumn
• Fourth 25-year season is Winter

If Spring represents years of new life, it can also be translated into a 25 year season of LEARNING. During this season we’re growing physically, emotionally and mentally. During this season all things are new and there’s hope to influence the world for good. Many life matters are looked at through the lens of an idealistic worldview. Optimism reigns. We’re physically strong and see unending potential in the world around us.

The second 25 year season can be translated to Summer, a time where days are longest and nights are shortest. It’s the warmest time of the year; a time when maximum productivity takes hold and achievements are won. All the years of learning are being APPLIED. Learning is still taking place (because the reality is that learning is a lifelong process) but it’s a time when days are busiest and life is full. Growing families and increasing demand are at a premium. Success is realized for many people and a vision for even greater impact and influence is hoped for.

The third 25 year season can be translated into Fall, a season of REAPING the harvest and when life is most bountiful. Perhaps it’s more productive than both of the previous seasons, leveraging a time when kids are grown and gone (or, almost…!), financial margin is created and there’s more time to think, plan, travel and enjoy life. Leveraging one’s network, knowledge and influence is a highlight of this season. It’s even perhaps a time to reinvent or transform oneself… getting to those interests or passions that were previously impossible to even think about much less act upon.

The final 25 year season can translated into Winter, a time when days become shorter, flowers wilt and die from the cold and we enter the final season of life. There is much PREPARATION in the season of Winter… perhaps much more than we’re consciously aware of. Winter dormancy is a respite from the busyness of the previous seasons. It’s a time of slowing down, simplifying and disengaging from many of life’s demands. It’s a time of sharing a lifetime of memories with the next generation…and beyond. It’s a time of making sure our affairs are in order. It’s a time of planning beyond one’s lifetime. The body becomes feeble. It’s a time of reflection, memorializing one’s legacy, and a time to pass the baton from one generation to the next. It’s also a time to finish strong, modeling not only how one has lived…but, perhaps even more importantly, how one is to prepare to die and embrace the life beyond.

View a graphic representation of these seasons in four different formats. Note that the SACRED LegacyLifeCycle represents those from a faith tradition; the SECULAR LegacyLifeCycle represents others who do not share that same world-view. Both are demonstrable:

The LegacyLifeCycle 180 degree ARC indicates the natural escalation and de-acceleration of life. The ARC illustrates a life span of 100 years.

The blurred colors between each season represent the reality that there is no pre-set “hard start” or “hard stop”, but rather a TRANSITION from one season to the next.

The LegacyLifeCycle COLOR scheme is representative of each season:

GREEN represents a season of new growth and LEARNING

BLUE SKY represents a season of opportunity and APPLYING

GOLDEN represents a season of REAPING

DARK BROWN represents PREPARATION

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