people/musings

Would Your Current Biography Be Worth Reading?

Would a stranger read past the first chapter of your biography? Not likely.

I know that sounds harsh, but think about it. Think about your life and everything that you do day-to-day. Are your actions worth talking about? Would somebody describe you as an interesting individual? Do you approach life in a way that’s worth noting?

Are you special? And I don’t mean special in the way that your parents and grandparents would say. Everyone on earth is special in some way to someone. When I say special, I mean distinct. Of course we all like to think that we are exceptional beings, but really, if we were to compare ourselves to a lot of the people we know, we probably wouldn’t be able to find many profound differences in how live.

An easy exercise to help you make clear whether or not you really are living a distinctive life is by writing a one page autobiography or synopsis of a movie about you. Afterwards, contemplate whether or not you’d even finish reading or watching it if was about someone you didn’t know. (If you don’t like writing, then do this exercise in your head.) And remember that this isn’t merely about recording things that you’ve done; this is meant to evaluate how you do what you do. What is your attitude towards work? Do you hold fundamental beliefs that determine how you make decisions in your personal life? Do you act like everything you do matters?

Take this example:

Most teachers know that they can go to work, put in the minimum amount of effort and do no harm to the children that they teach. However, a teacher who goes to work fully believing that her ability to intrigue and teach will actually affect her students’ futures is far more likely to make a real impact on them. It’s a simple matter of attitude. If we were to write about this ideal teacher, we might write something like this:

“She acted as though her ability to teach and inspire her students would determine not only their fate, but the world’s.” If someone were to write about you, would you be made out to be this fascinating? This caring? Or purpose-driven? If not, why not?

I’ll say it again: what is important is not really what you do as much as how you do it. That is what makes you interesting. That is what makes you stand out. And that is what has the potential to make for an impactful existence, and later, a captivating read.