One punch. Just one punch.

Sometimes all you have to do is be remarkable one time.

Buster Douglass knocked out Mike Tyson in February of 1990. He became the first person to ever do this and it changed the world's perception of "Iron" Mike Tyson.  Tyson's previously untarnished 37-0 record came to an end. He became mortal in the eyes of the public and it really was a turning point in his fighting career. Buster, on the other hand, is merely a Jeopardy question these days as he never went on to becoming a great champion. He was remarkable once. He had an amazing punch, once.

Songwriters and musicians are often remarkable once. You write or sing one hit record and you can live off the royalties for the rest of your life. They may release 42 other albums and never have another hit, but they were remarkable once. Somewhere, in some city, there is a radio station doing a one hit wonders weekend and those bands are collecting rent money royalties because of it.

Sometimes, in life, it's just timing or a lucky punch. It's not always a series of successes or victories. Becoming "legendary" requires you to do one great thing at least one time. To defeat the naysayers, to slay Goliath, to accomplish something sizable and do it in such a way that people are forced to take notice; like writing the world’s most catchiest song. (Insert lyrics to "Achy Breaky Heart" here).

If you look back on your life you can probably think of one thing that makes you "legendary". If you have to think about it too hard, that means that your moment in the sun passed quickly or you are still waiting for your big moment to happen.  Maybe a little of both? At least when Douglass floored Tyson, he did it on a huge public stage and in doing that became a household name-at least in the 90s. He never had to fight anyone ever again. (He did however and lost).  His ego will forever be fed by the story of the one time he defeated the scariest man in boxing.

When you die, there will be one, maybe two, consistent stories told about you over and over again. Trust me, I know this from personal experience with the passing of my brother Michael. Although there are 1000s of great stories about him, people continue to tell the same ones back to me. I actually love it when they do, because each has an interpretation of their own and frankly I love hearing and feeling the love in those stories. Deep down inside, I do feel it's my job to share my stories and those about my brother with the world and I often do this through my blogs. They need to be shared, but mostly I do this so they never die. They live on. As his daughter gets older, she will need to know more about her dad and my archiving will help in the sharing of those stories. I too will get older and because of that memories may fade-so it’s important to journal them.

When your time is up in this world and you're called upon to leave, all others will really have of you will be your stories. As we get older, our memories tend to fade and dementia kicks in, so it becomes important that we share what we have with the world while we can. The stories about us will live longer than our bodies will allow us.

Make sure that the stories about you are truly legendary and not based on something unproductive or negative. Don't let the biggest thing about you be something others can watch on an episode of Cops. "Look Ma, there's Cousin Billy and his meth lab!  Why is he running?  We should be recording this"!!  

Yes, every family member can learn from the telling of the stories of the life and times of Cousin Billy the meth dealer, but I think it’s better that the accounts of your life are based on healthy and positive moments don't you? 

Make sure you are living a story worthy life. #Tryharder to ensure that the legend of you is worth telling. You don't have to beat the heavyweight champion of the world or write a song that becomes an anthem, but your contributions to this world should be as grand as you are capable of making the. By grand, they don't need to be played out on a stage, but they should influence the people and the lives you are a part of.       

Be the greatest version of yourself possible. Let your legacy and the legend of you live on. Ensure that those you leave behind will be able to tell beautiful and amazing stories about your life and contributions; because after we die, all others have to cling to are those stories.