How do you want to be remembered? Would you rather be known for the business deals you brokered and the fame you amassed or the people you helped and relationships you had?
David Brooks, in an editorial titled “The Moral Bucket List,” developed the concept that there are “two sets of virtues, the résumé virtues and the eulogy virtues. The résumé virtues are the skills you bring to the marketplace. The eulogy virtues are the ones that are talked about at your funeral.”
Both types of virtues are important and worth pursuing and honing, but only eulogy virtues have any lasting value and legacy. Developing résumé virtues is fairly straightforward. You read more books, you practice, you develop skills & you get more education. But the development of eulogy virtues is not as clear-cut. It involves a lifetime of making good decisions and prioritizing things of lasting value.
So if you are reading this: take a minute and think about who you are and how you want to be remembered. I hope you are building resume virtues but even more importantly I urge you to build eulogy virtues.
It’s not the glory
It’s not the fame
It’s not what you have
IT’S WHO YOU ARE