When your friends tell stories about you, what’s the story they tell most? That’s your legacy so far.

One story about you gets told more than the others, and it is rarely the one you would have chosen. It usually captures a pattern instead of a peak: the time you did the ridiculous loyal thing, or the time you bailed in a way that turned into a running joke. Whatever it is, people have already decided it represents you.

Ask a friend which one it is and do not argue with the answer. If you like it, keep supplying material. If you do not, the fix is a different pattern rather than a better explanation.