Living a Legacy or Living a Résumé

By Janet Christensen

As a Passion Map facilitator, I have the opportunity to work with a variety of people. As I guide each person in the art of discovering, accessing, and bringing to life what he or she loves most, I am inspired by each person's brilliance that is revealed through this experience. I consider myself to be most fortunate to do work that I truly love and be inspired every day.

I recently completed a Passion Map with a young man in his mid-twenties and it is with his permission that I write this article. This rather quiet young man has a good education and is searching for his career niche, which was his motivation for doing a Passion Map. What was obvious throughout our sessions together were his strong values and his commitment to creating the life that he wants to live, rather than following the prescribed path. He wants success on his terms, because he is clear on what success means to him. One of his measurements of success is living a legacy, not living a résumé.

What does this mean: living a legacy, not living a résumé?

It means making choices that are in alignment with your values. It means being clear on who you are and what you stand for. It means doing what is important, because it is important to you. It means creating a life that has value for you and that you will be proud to look back upon. It means having the courage to say “no thank you” to things that, while they may look good on a résumé, are not what you want to be doing, or that do not make good use of your abilities and passions.

At a relatively young age, this individual has figured out what Abraham Lincoln was referring to when he said, “You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time.”

Many people continue to live their lives making choices based on what they think is expected of them, or because it will look good on a résumé. We get a myriad of helpful information and advice from well meaning people, not all of which is solicited, and rather than having our choices become clearer, we may become confused. Just who knows best and who do we please? And, what is the ideal life résumé supposed to look like? Meanwhile, we may sacrifice what is truly important to us, missing the opportunity to really shine at something and feel great in the process. When it comes down to it, knowing our values and passions, and having the courage to make choices that are in alignment with them, leads us to live our legacy.

I look forward to witnessing how this young man's life unfolds as he chooses to live his legacy and not just a résumé. I am confident that a wonderful caring leader is emerging, who will not only look back with pride and satisfaction on his life, but he will have made a very positive difference in the lives of many others on his journey.

Janet Christensen’s passion is to empower people to live their full potential. Through her company, Unlimiting Potential, she provides personal coaching, experiential workshops, inspirational speaking, and is a Reiki practitioner. To contact Janet, phone: (519) 434-5397 fax: (519) 434-8344 or email info@janetchristensen.com www.janetchristensen.com Published in Networking Today, June 2004

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