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Wednesday 25 November 2009

What would make you proud to have named after you?

Interesting how things happen. Dr Who names a galaxy Alison. I ask a question in LinkedIn about what would make you the proudest to have named after you (not a person). And the responses provide me with the perfect question for my workshops when discussing step 3 of a process I've developed called Mission! (see link)

The last blog will have given you a sense of the 7 steps I've developed to help you get out of the creek or take action to avoid going down it in the first place. After stopping and putting on your life jacket the third step is about using what you enjoy, are good and have passion for, along with connecting to your values, to identify your mission or purpose for your life. In other words what will get you out of bed in the morning with enthusiasm? (This was discussed in my contribution to How not to be like your parents - again see links on rhs.)

I've tried many different questions to get to the heart of the matter and so have others - what's your legacy, what would your eulogy say, what difference would you most like to make in the world etc etc. The question 'what would make you proudest to have named after you' seemed to hit the mark. The answers have been truly inspiring:

Those things being named included: schools, colours, streets, institutions, libraries, rooms, processes, methods, cures, vaccines, parks, funds, charities, awards, hospitals, ways of living, roses and butterflies.

It was the why these would be named after them that seemed to tap into their mission - the difference they wanted to make in life.

What would make you proudest? and why? and what can you do today to start to make it a reality? You may not get the library named after you but you will have made a difference.

2 comments:

saharandrade said...

Alison:
I did enjoy your blog as much as I enjoyed your question, it made me think and made dive inside myself to really see what I wanted to be known for or what memory I needed to leave behind or in short what was my mission as I saw it.
Great job
Cheers,
Sahar Andrade
www.saharconsulting.wordpress.com

Lubna said...

Hi Alison,
While I don't have a story-book shelter named after me yet, I did begin a story book collection drive which was a huge success. You can read more about it here.
http://writerscyberslate.blogspot.com/2009/08/story-book-collection-drive.html
The Amazon wish list is still open.
Great question and some great answers.
Seasons greetings and happy holidays.
Best,
Lubna