Either run the day or the day runs you
No, it's not my life-resume😊, but why you might want one and how to write it. I made mine a while ago and found it very helpful both in a healing process and as a general lifestyle process. I think it would be a very important thing for everyone to do, to understand if you are living the life you really want, in the way that is meaningful to you.
A while ago I was looking for a new job and working on my CV... OK, maybe that's not entirely true, since my working career is most likely over😳.
But yes, I looked at my "old" CV from when I was working, but not because I was looking for a new job, but because I'm trying to understand what life I lived before my accident, to use it to understand how I can move forward with a meaningful life.
And it's funny what thoughts pop into
your head when you suddenly find yourself on the bench. So yes, my working career is over, but I still find myself searching through my document archive from that period of my life, especially when I wonder how my life was before and how it shaped me in a lot of ways. It's a good time killer😀, I actually find some words of wisdom among all the boring stuff I have in that archive🙃, which have turn out to be quite useful to find back to a meaningful life, I did some smart stuff back in the "old days"😉
This time I stumble over one of my "old" work CV and I started reading through it and wondering why it was written the way it was.
I somehow felt it was missing an important part of me, it covered what I had archived in my career, but almost nothing about me, me as a person beside my career, what I have accomplished outside work. I've been told by various recruitment agencies back in the "old" days, my CV was, both in terms of content and layout, pretty good.
And maybe it was, but in my eyes, it's cold and empty, just fact, no emotions..., but it didn't really moved me.
Throughout my time in business, I have hired quite a few people in various positions, so I have read a lot of resumes. One thing I remember is that almost all of them covered the person’s career achievements pretty good, a nice dot list with "boring" fact. But almost nothing about who that person is as a person, the fun facts, the memorable things from their lives. Why?
Yes why, why don't we care more about the people behind the career? Who are you?
Let me try to explain. A traditional resume is simply a career blueprint for your prospective employer to reverse engineer whether you are suitable for the position, a cookie-cutter summation of your skills, history and qualifications. Nice but boring..., sorry mate, ok yours CV is probably not, only mine😉.
When it comes to hiring a future colleague, the boring stuff is necessary...., yes, but why not spicy it up with some touching stuff, the who part? When I was hiring, I always tried to dive behind the boring stuff to find some fun facts that weren't work-related. If you are the right person with the right attitude, a naturally healthy life, and fun interests outside of work, I can teach you to do almost anything I need you to do. Okay, maybe not everything, but you get the picture? Yes, what you can is definitely a need. But spicing it up can make a difference, should make a difference.
If I were to find myself in a position where I had to hire people again... or if I were to advise others who need to hire or are out looking for new job opportunities, I would recommend writing a resume that is significantly different from the "traditional" one. Spicy it up whit some fun fact and memorable episodes from you life-resume, showing yourself as a the amazing human being your are, telling a story, not a dot list with boring fact.
Ok, so I may be a fool, or even stupid, but please bear with me. Remember I'm excused, I'm brain damaged 😂.
Anyway, I think we would achieve so much more by focusing more on who the person is and less on what. By building teams with a stronger focus on who rather than what, teams will be stronger, and members will be more likely to share their skills across the team, lifting each other up into one stronger team where everyone shines, where not just one is the star, but everyone is a star together.
Ok, so why create a life-resume? You see, we as humans, get extremely lost in our day to day distractions and ‘to do lists’ that we lose sight of the bigger picture, and most of us simply haven't really considered if we are living a life we are creating or just going along for the ride.
We lose focus, get stuck in bubbles of routine and responsibility. On a subconscious level, we resign ourselves to the life wehave now, neurologically shrug our shoulders and say to ourselves, “I guess this is it, this is my life.” Does that sound familiar? I can say that it did to me for a long time, yes, I was “lucky,” I got a hard stop, and was unexpectedly forced to look back and reevaluate my life.
Imagine if we had a clock on our heads that showed us the hours we spend on various activities. Would we be horrified to find out that you spend more time watching Netflix than spending time with family and friends, or that you spend 20-25 hours a week staring at your phone or tablets and only 3 hours chasing goals and dreams? The average person spends an astonishing 4 hours per day on their phone and tablets, and if we get our first phone at the age of 10, we will lose about 16 years of our lives staring at our phones. Imagine that😱.
We live in an evolving world where the barriers to wild ambition and exciting opportunities are being lowered exponentially due to the rapid advancements in technology and especially AI solutions. Yet, it seems as if we, as a larger society, have fallen asleep at the wheel of our own lives due to the endless noise and distractions at our disposal. It is this paradox that is contributing to the mental health pandemic. We have fewer excuses not to pursue our dreams and more opportunities, but far less clarity, direction and focus than previous generations. Where are the explorers that skip everything they have to go out exploring the unknown, no not the Discovery channel😂, but out there somewhere... to the moon and turn right.
A life-resume is a simple document to turn off the autopilot and input some destinations for your life. It reflects back at you who you really are, and gives you the self-awareness that is essential for life navigation. There is no right or wrong way to live your life, there is only what is right or wrong for you. It's your life we talking about, remember most of us only have one.
When I created my first version of my life-resume, it was mainly because I really needed to understand how my life had become the way it was a some years ago, and how I wanted to live it going forward. It became a solid foundation for a huge lifestyle change I made at the time, and now that I have had to reinvent myself after my brain injury, having it has really made a huge difference in finding my path forward.
I only wish I had started writing it 30 ish years back in time, I might had avoid a few bumps in the road on my way here😂.
I began to think that perhaps all life does is prepare us with the tools and skills for our final interview with our creator (God or the universe or whatever higher power we choose to believe in) at the end of our lives, to assess whether we felt we reached our potential in living a deeply fulfilling and meaningful life. So ultimately, the life resume provides us with a self-reflective framework to ensure we are on the right path or not.
Only three things matters in life: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.
Okay, that was the boring stuff about why
we need a life resume. Hope you managed to stay awake this far. Now we’re going to dive into how to get started with your life resume, and some of the highlights I’d recommend. But remember, it’s yours, not mine, so find what suits you and who you are. There’s no right or wrong version, there’s only yours.
Creating a life-resume can be intimidating or even triggering, depending on your feelings about your current life path, but believe me, it's a deeply enriching and powerful process that we should all go through sometimes in our lives.
Here are my suggestions for some steps I would recommend considering:
Reflect on what your values are, what means the most to you in life? Think about the 3–4 building blocks that are fundamental to building your life, what would they be? What is deeply meaningful to you? Family? Creativity? Adventure? Business? Nature? Caring for people and the environment? Take the time to write them down and reflect on how they influence your daily decisions
Choose 3-4 values you identified above, create and refine a short statement for your life. Make sure it feels unique and authentic to who you are, and that it moves you when you read it.
For example, if you have identified that your core values are family, health, and caring for people and the environment, your mission statement might be:
“Create a nurturing home where family and friends thrives, prioritizing healthy living through nutritious meals, regular outdoor activities, and open communication, while advocating for sustainable practices that protect our planet for future generations and cultivates diversity as an advantage”
The statement should be the first thing people read. So place it on the top of your life-resume, CV, blog or where you want to introduce yourself, it's important you use it, make it yours, believe in it,
Think about your life experiences and the challenges you have overcome. Be honest with yourself, remembering that if we never experienced challenges, we would never experience growth. These challenges are an important part of who you are and shape your character. List all the challenges and important moments that have shaped who you are today. These can be positive and negative.
Think about this: A person who never fails probably never tried, and trying is the foundation for growth.
Now it's time to think about the layout and choose headings for your resume. These are bulleted points that best reflect who you are and that intuitively align with your core values and purpose statement. Here are some examples and ideas to inspire you.
Successes and challenges 
you have overcome, Think of your life like a heartbeat monitor they have in hospitals. A healthy heart on the monitor has peaks and valleys, and a flatline would mean that you would be dead. Each and every one of us, and no matter how we live our lives, one thing is guaranteed, it will be full of challenges and obstacles that must be overcome in order to become a better version of ourselves.
Challenges are what drive growth. Dealing with and overcoming these challenges contributes to our self-worth and shapes who we are as a person, and it is this growth that keeps our lives from stagnating and propels us higher than any limiting beliefs we have ever held. So, what have you overcome? What are some of your proudest achievements so far?
Future f*ck it list: A f*ck it list is things you want to do in life that you perceive that you can’t do… Yet. Anytime you achieve anything on your f*ck it list requires you to reconsider your limitations, and raises the bar of your perception of what your capable of in the most inspiring way.
Your pride and joy list: The memorable moments from your bucket list: These are the moments in your life that we know we will remember fondly for a long time. The moments that truly make us feel alive. The moments that charge our souls with electricity. The moments that generate emotions like euphoria, joy, pride, wonder and love that give us a supercharge of gratitude and open our hearts.
It could be the birth of your first child, to see your child take their first steps or win a match and stand on top of the podium? Diving in the Caribbean with sharks, the smile and laughter of a loved one, or cycling the Rallarvegen road across the Hardangervidda plateau on an stunning day. It is important to not only reflect on these moments, but to continually add and plan future items to your bucket list.
Skills bank: It's everything we put in our backpack throughout life, a kind of Swiss Army knife of our lives. The more we have in our bag, the more opportunities seem to come our way. The more our confidence grows. The more we have to share and contribute to others. What skills and hobbies do you currently have? What abilities have you worked hard to develop? And what skills do you want to acquire in the future? Do they tie into your values as well as your F*ck it and bucket list?
Connections & Relationships: We as humans thrive on connection. To be loved, To be heard. To be felt. To be seen. What are the key relationships and friendships in you life, Who have you loved, who has loved you? what are the strengths and weaknesses of each? What are you most proud of, and what could be improved. How do you want the people closest to you to feel when they are around you and what do you want them to think about you as a person?
Education: What we have learned formally and informally throughout our lives is of great importance. Whether you like it or not, it plays a big role in what defines you as a person. List both formal qualifications such as degrees and courses, as well as any seminars or lectures that have given you value. It is equally important to note any informal education in the form of life lessons that have influenced your understanding of the world and shaped who you are as a person.
Inspirations: What we find inspiring in music, art, books, movies, quotes, nature and other forms of expression is of utmost importance. What drives us reflects the core of our soul, believe me, you can learn a lot about yourself through what moves you. List everything you find inspiring and a brief explanation why.
Legacy: As Andy Warhol once said, “The idea is not to live forever, but to create something that will last.” The last part is a short paragraph of reflection on how you want to be remembered when you’re gone long, long into the future😉, but most people will probably get to that point sometime😁. So think about what you want people to take away from the life you lived. Imagine you are a ghost listening to your eulogy at your funeral. What do you want to hear?
Your legacy is not what you leave for people, but what you leave in people. -
Now that you have the headings for your resume, take the time to fill in the relevant personal reflections and information under each heading to create your resume, It's important to choose a format that resonates with you. It could be a document, keynote slides, a more visual mind map. You could add pictures or illustrations to add context to your life-resume. Give it your own unique fingerprint. It's important to have fun with it and end up with something you enjoy looking at and is a true reflection of you. Again, there is no right or wrong way, just yours.
Read through your completed resume. Is it a true reflection of you? Your life-resume should not only give you an accurate picture of the life you have lived up to now, but also reflect a clear intention and direction for your best future self. Your resume should be a living document. Take the time to review and update it periodically as your life evolves, and make any adjustments accordingly. This will help you stay on track and in line with your goals and how you want to spend your one precious life. Remember, you only get one chance to live it, so make the most of it.
We all know the feeling of receiving useful information that has the potential to be a great unlock to the newest version of life we have been seeking, but then we park this information in the deepest recesses of our minds, never to be used. Failure to implement this critical knowledge prevents us from reaching our true potential, as “self-help” becomes “shelf help.” Be aware that the self-insight you gain from your life resume has the power to change your life. It can also be seen as a powerful preventative measure to reduce the chance that your life will not turn out the way you wanted it to and will be consumed by regret. Use your life resume to grab the wheel of your life with both hands, and make plans for your goals, breaking down your biggest and most ambitious goals and dreams into digestible steps and momentum.
Live life as there will be no tomorrow
In a complex world where distractions
are around every corner, the concept of a life resume offers a powerful framework for self-reflection and future direction. By capturing your values, experiences, skills, and aspirations that create your identity in a profound way, a life resume empowers you to make informed decisions, set meaningful goals that align with your soul, and help you navigate transitions with confidence. So take the time to create and implement your life resume — it could be the catalyst for the meaningful change you seek.
For me, that's what I used to get my life back on my true path. To really understand what a meaningful life is to me, I always say you should live your life looking forward, and that's true, but to know where you're going, it's good to remember where you came from. And sometime reflect over what you have done in the past is quite helpful to adjust the path you choose forward, and adjust it accordingly.
Yes, when I wrote mine, there were mixed emotions. With deep sadness I realized that from time to time I had completely lost sight of my dreams. But also with a lot of joy when I realized all the good things I had achieved, my success stories, so that I had actually checked off quite a few things on both my “f*ck it” list and “bucket list”, so my life so far had not been completely wasted, it had actually been pretty good so far.
Sitting down from time to time and evaluating where and what you have done with your life is helpful for your own mental health, especially in a time when most people live their lives in the fast lane and stress about all the "must-do" things in life.
It's easy when you look back and see what you've done to be hard on yourself and wish you had been wiser from the start. My advice to the next generation is to stop from time to time, update your life resume, review your accomplishments, and think about whether your life is going in the direction you've hoped it would. If not, take a break and consider changing course while you still can.
Don't let fame and fortune confuse you, there's more to life, believe me... life is too short not to fill it with love, fun, and joy.
As I started, you should create a short version with the highlights from your personal life resume, which you can use when introducing yourself. It can be the beginning of your formal CV for job applications, on your blog, or hanging it on your wall at home to show people who you are. What I mean, is use it, not just for yourself, but to show the world who you are in all your glory. Be proud of who you are, and never, and I mean NEVER let anyone tell you different, you are you and you matter.
I will leave you with this: Everyday you wake up, you have a second chance to do whatever you want, to be whoever you want, the only thing stopping, you, is you.
I have been through some big changes in my life, I have chosen and choose to be open about what I have been through, sharing my experiences in the hope that it can inspire and help others. I am a positive person with a focus on living healthy, thinking positively, living life by looking forward and letting what lies behind be as educational experiences.
More about meMy Story Till NowContactsFeel free to add comment. I will read through them and post them on the comment field.
Comment field.
