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The Meaning of Life
I was playing around a few weeks ago with some old business card stock I had found while cleaning out my office. (Well, I moved a pile of junk and discovered half a box I had forgotten about.) I quickly whipped up a couple quickie business cards pointing to my linkedin profile and my main email address. On the reverse I wanted to put something that said a bit about who I am. I typed in the following and quickly printed up a page.
- Customer focused
- Results Drive
- Developing Teams to Excel in Sales, Service, and Retention
- Engaging Employees to Engage Customers
"Do not primarily train men to work. Train them to serve willingly and intelligently." - James Cash Penney
Pretty Cool huh? Well, I thought so. ... At first.
I Started thinking about the back of my card. What did it say about me? What does it say about who I am? I think the answer likely boils down to one work. - NOTHING.
I reads fine for a resume. It calls out my focuses in my work life. It calls to my customer and associate engagement focus. GREAT! ... SO? What I was trying to do with the cards was tell WHO I AM, not WHAT I DO. My profile could tell them my CV for business. I wanted this piece to convey my CV as a person. I had to figure that out for myself before I could get my new cards done.
Who am I? That question seems like one of the all-time easy ones to answer. Just write down your name and you get 50 points right? (That's what they tole mt when I took my SAT's anyway.) I soon discovered it is not as simple a question as it seemed. At least it was not that simple for me.
I am David Lee Fields
Born in Germany to American parents in 1971
I'm a Christian by faith and practice
I'm a husband, a father, an employee, and friend.
I'm a registered Republican.
I'm a Leo. (I however, place no stock in such things.)
5'8"
180lb
Sandy Blond Hair
Blue Eyes
Legally Blind with ADHD.
...
Is all that who I am?
I dunno.
If that is who I am, it that what I want on my B-card?
That I do know... NO!
I had to find a way to take who I AM and encapsulate it in a way I can convey on my personal card-backs. This should be fun... Maybe? ... I think I need a knew approach.
OOOOOH I know! A LIST!!
I decided to list all the things I could think of that were truly important to me. Things I either poses, strive for, or value in others. Here is a glimpse at my list. It is not my entire list as it continues to grow. It is representative of the things I found. Now to decide which ones go on my card. The parts of speech were of no importance. I am simply listing those things I value in a character. Those things to strive for in myself and I look for in others.
...
You get the idea.
I wrote this list, I began to realize as I was not merely scribing my ideals of character but I was writing out my own personal meaning of life. My life purpose or objective. Not goals for business achievement only. These were aspirations for me to strive for in every aspect of life. Could I list these things on my card? (This is for a personal contact card after all.) What Items could I legitimately list, and what ones would be the equivalent of inflating the resume? Of those items I cannot list, why not? What is keeping me from being able to list them?
There it was. The Meaning of Life. Staring me bold-faced in the form of a bulleted list.
My meaning:
A man of integrity, honor, and respect. To demonstrate love and empathy when dealing with others. To be a good listener and treat others with compassion and patience. To try to be a man who is high-energy, healthy, and communicative. To exercise my faith transparently and with consistency. To nurture family and friends with wisdom and balance.
This then is the meaning of life. The meaning of my life. This meaning of life is an ever-growing mission statement for who I AM as a person. Not what I do in business. Not where I am from or my physical attributes. Those things are of little import if I am not living with purpose. If life has not meaning.
The back of my card is currently blank. I will be working on that. I do however, now carry a separate card case with a stack of cards reflecting the list I have made. Each card containing a single word emblazoned on it's face. on work from the list for each card. I may take these and imprint my card front onto them. Perhaps the back would simply contain a single word from my list.
David Fields
Respect
David Fields
Integrity
David Fields
Listener
David Fields
Loyal
What words would go on the back of your card?
What is your personal mission statement?
What is the meaning of your life?
I Started thinking about the back of my card. What did it say about me? What does it say about who I am? I think the answer likely boils down to one work. - NOTHING.
I reads fine for a resume. It calls out my focuses in my work life. It calls to my customer and associate engagement focus. GREAT! ... SO? What I was trying to do with the cards was tell WHO I AM, not WHAT I DO. My profile could tell them my CV for business. I wanted this piece to convey my CV as a person. I had to figure that out for myself before I could get my new cards done.
Who am I? That question seems like one of the all-time easy ones to answer. Just write down your name and you get 50 points right? (That's what they tole mt when I took my SAT's anyway.) I soon discovered it is not as simple a question as it seemed. At least it was not that simple for me.
I am David Lee Fields
Born in Germany to American parents in 1971
I'm a Christian by faith and practice
I'm a husband, a father, an employee, and friend.
I'm a registered Republican.
I'm a Leo. (I however, place no stock in such things.)
5'8"
180lb
Sandy Blond Hair
Blue Eyes
Legally Blind with ADHD.
...
Is all that who I am?
I dunno.
If that is who I am, it that what I want on my B-card?
That I do know... NO!
I had to find a way to take who I AM and encapsulate it in a way I can convey on my personal card-backs. This should be fun... Maybe? ... I think I need a knew approach.
OOOOOH I know! A LIST!!
I decided to list all the things I could think of that were truly important to me. Things I either poses, strive for, or value in others. Here is a glimpse at my list. It is not my entire list as it continues to grow. It is representative of the things I found. Now to decide which ones go on my card. The parts of speech were of no importance. I am simply listing those things I value in a character. Those things to strive for in myself and I look for in others.
- Love
- Faith
- Family
- Friendship
- honesty
- integrity
- passion
- humility
- compassion, empathy
- intelligence
- patience
- respect
- loyal
- honor
...
You get the idea.
I wrote this list, I began to realize as I was not merely scribing my ideals of character but I was writing out my own personal meaning of life. My life purpose or objective. Not goals for business achievement only. These were aspirations for me to strive for in every aspect of life. Could I list these things on my card? (This is for a personal contact card after all.) What Items could I legitimately list, and what ones would be the equivalent of inflating the resume? Of those items I cannot list, why not? What is keeping me from being able to list them?
There it was. The Meaning of Life. Staring me bold-faced in the form of a bulleted list.
My meaning:
A man of integrity, honor, and respect. To demonstrate love and empathy when dealing with others. To be a good listener and treat others with compassion and patience. To try to be a man who is high-energy, healthy, and communicative. To exercise my faith transparently and with consistency. To nurture family and friends with wisdom and balance.
This then is the meaning of life. The meaning of my life. This meaning of life is an ever-growing mission statement for who I AM as a person. Not what I do in business. Not where I am from or my physical attributes. Those things are of little import if I am not living with purpose. If life has not meaning.
The back of my card is currently blank. I will be working on that. I do however, now carry a separate card case with a stack of cards reflecting the list I have made. Each card containing a single word emblazoned on it's face. on work from the list for each card. I may take these and imprint my card front onto them. Perhaps the back would simply contain a single word from my list.
David Fields
Respect
David Fields
Integrity
David Fields
Listener
David Fields
Loyal
What words would go on the back of your card?
What is your personal mission statement?
What is the meaning of your life?
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