To Be List
You likely have a to do list. Mine's often a bit long and always changing.
A to do list is one thing, but I wonder what would happen if we created a to-be list?
There's so much to do that often in the process of doing I forget to tend to who I am becoming. What if I spent as much time developing my character as I do trying to accomplish tasks?
After all, doesn't character ultimately nuance and even determine what we accomplish? I love Switchfoot, but I like them even more after @jonathanforeman (Switchfoot's front man) twittered about this rendition of one of their new songs. A fairly famous guy gave a teenage girl who home videoed one of his songs a shout out to thousands of people. How cool is that? It says so much about his character.
Great people are great because of who they are as much as for what they accomplish. Great people forgive liberally. They add value to people they meet. They stand up for things that matter but are just as happy to take a back seat so others can shine. They love radically and serve with selfless abandon.
For me to be more like that takes work. Maybe we need to-be lists as badly as we need to-do lists.
I'm thinking for me these days, I'd start with one word on my to-be list: kindness. In my daily interactions with everyone, I want to be more kind.
If you had a to-be list today, what would be on it? How might it change you? How might working on being, not just doing, change your life?
I stole somebody else’s cool idea and made of list of things I want to describe me when I’m 40 (I’m 29). Obviously somebody could put any age in there.
I need to look at it more though, and my real struggle is doing things intentionally that help me become who I described. I’m not leveraging it enough right now but it’s a great exercise.
This has a profound affect on me. I haven’t stopped thinking about this “To BE List” since you posted this, Carey. Have to write it down and focus on it every day. More so than the “To Do List”.
Nick, that’s a great idea! I’m going to picture myself at the age of 65… who am I ? What sort of things have I accomplished? Are the things I’m worried about today really going to affect me at 65? What am I best known for contributing? Once I have that image in my mind, I can get to work on it right away.