The idea is to represent the concept that while an individual's life is finite and accumulated knowledge or wisdom will disappear after death, the result of one's actions can make a difference for others in the long run, therefore yielding a positive balance of one's existence.
Some expressions may allude to this, such as the classic "standing on the shoulders of giants", but I specifically would like a short word; ideally a one-syllable one, because this is to be part of a list of such concepts that I would want as concise as possible.
Moreover, due to the way I managed to shorten the other concepts, I would need this to be a verb. For instance, some of the other terms I already have are "learn" (for "amassing and sharing knowledge", "keeping an open mind", "constant learning", "preserving curiosity"), and "join" (for "collaboration", "contributing one's 2 cents").
So far, I settled for "mark" (the verb) as a metonym for "leaving a legacy", but I am not really satisfied with it, and indeed after some testing among my friends I've confirmed that the meaning isn't immediately clear for others.
edit: replaced "transcendence" with "legacy" in the question title, as suggested by Jed Oliver's answer (and at least two commenters before). I was thinking about the "transcending death" meaning, but admittedly, it wasn't very clear.