There are two ways to define your life: one is with your resume, while the other is with your tombstone.

A resume contains our competencies, technical accomplishments, education, and recognitions. We take pride in it. It is definite, provable, and can be measured. You did it, or you didn’t. It shines like a marquee at the theater. 

The tombstone, however, is something we never see. It is for others. It is a remembrance of us. It is a paean to what really mattered about us. It rarely mentions those measurable feats of technical prowess. It tells stories that are most often never mentioned on a resume. It tells of who you were as a parent, spouse, community member, or fighter for a cause.

It’s ironic. We work our whole lives to add to our resumes, only to have those things forgotten on our tombstones. 

So, I am led to a question. Why are we not working to have a highly significant and meaningful tombstone? Why are we caught up in living for measurable but forgettable points on a graph rather than hard-to-measure, significant work/behavior/character that makes a better world?

Think hard on this one. Which are you working harder for, your resume or your tombstone? Only one will define you.

==> If you liked this post and want to know when new posts are published, CLICK HERE to subscribe.