How Writing your own Eulogy can Enable you to Live your Best Life Now
Diving straight in today and talking about a topic that many find difficult: death.
You see in the western world death is scary. We can have trauma from the death of a loved one. And death is an uncontrollable event.
I’m not talking about the afterlife or next lives today, so any woo-woo avoiders; don’t worry.
What I am talking about is that if you want to live your best life, go to the end and a very specific part of the ending: your eulogy.
This is not a theory-based blog post today, this is a creative exercise that I’m going to encourage you to do. A note that this experience with clients can have a profound impact on people, with urgency and clarity.
So before we dive into the how, yes overachievers I’m going to make you wait a little longer, let’s talk about why.
We can live in the present day, using our past legacies to influence how we show up in the present-day version of ourselves. In society it can be about immediate gratification; likes, follows, making 6 figures in 1 hour and increasing pressure to do things more quickly.
The impact on this is a dysfunctional relationship with the breadth of time we have on the planet and an over fixation and weight placed on happiness now.
Or, we could be using past trauma, ancestral narratives and legacies that we are trying to outrun to change or to displace, meaning that we spend a lot of time looking back to stay in the same place.
By focusing on the end of our lives, we create clarity around the magnetic pull that draws us forward. We can have crystal clear insight into our vision, our priorities and the next steps that we need to take to move towards that future.
A leading expert in this field, Daniel Harkavy, has used a similar technique on thousands of executives and leaders around the world to achieve the clarity and purpose they crave.
Let’s dive in.
There are two parts to this task:
Imagineering your Eulogy Reading
The 1st is a piece of Imagineering, which if you haven’t done it before is a fancy way of saying strategic dreaming.
If you want to go ahead and get yourself comfortable, as a Master Hypnotherapist, I’m going to guide you through.
Ideally laying down or sitting with both feet on the floor and sitting in a comfortable position. You can close your eyes or keep them open if you wish.
I want you to imagine a set of double doors in front of you. You notice that your body, as you breath in and out is at the perfect temperature.
And as you breathe in and out, you notice your favourite smell or scent is drifting all around you, like stepping into your most perfect day.
And on the breeze, you can hear murmured voices coming out from behind the double doors.
As you breathe in and out, and in and out, you can feel the radiating love that is contained from behind the double doors.
And with a smile on your face and warmth in your heart, you gently push open one of the doors and step through. As you do those feelings of warmth, love and friendship meet you at a higher vibration.
It seems like a movie you are walking into, but you can't touch, interact or influence the movie that you are watching.
And as you breathe in and out, you hear someone at the front mention your name, for this room is filled with people celebrating your life, now that it has ended on this planet.
Your heart is filled with joy. I want you to take a scan around the room, and notice who you can see in those seats that are celebrating you.
What friends and loved ones are there?
What peers and colleagues are there?
Keeping on breathing in and out, there you go and in and out.
I want you to take a scan around the room now and see if there are any people there that you don’t recognise. You may be able to see their faces or they might be obscured to you.
If so, think about who this person could be that you impacted in your life, that they are here to celebrate you.
Always keeping on breathing in and out, and in and out.
It’s time for us to go now and walk back through the door, but before we do, take a moment to scan the room again.
You can’t hear what people are saying, but absorb all the love, kindness and appreciation for you that exists in that room.
Notice anything else left for you to notice.
Then walk back through the doors and back into the present moment, taking all of that love, insights and awareness with you.
Okay, beautiful, and when you are ready if you’ve had your eyes closed, go ahead and open them, shake your body around a bit and come back into the room.
That’s the first part of the exercise and you may want to stop here and come back for the second, or read everything and then run through again.
Once we have done this, then we need to move to the second exercise.
Write your Own Eulogy
It is easiest to start this process by looking at the common threads that run through your life by the end.
Areas or threads to think about include:
- Values – what are your key values that run through everything that you did in life?
- Impact – what is the impact or ripples of impact that you’ve had on people’s lives?
- Beliefs – what were your core beliefs that ran through your entire life, that was the core of who you were?
Other areas that you would include when writing your own eulogy include:
- Anecdotes – any cute stories from childhood or narratives that shaped who you were at the end?
- Locations – where in your life did you live and travel to? Where in the world did you explore?
- Business – What was the nature of the business that made you money? And how much did you make? Did you win awards? What would clients say about you?
- Relationships – thinking about friends, colleagues, peers and your own family, what kinds of relationship did you have with each?
- Giving Back – with the success that you achieved, how did you give back? Did you donate time or money? Did you set up a foundation or scholarship?
Wins – what were your biggest accomplishments?
- Both personally and professionally, awards to thank you letters? From paying for your kid's University, so they were debt-free? To starting a movement?
- Hobbies – What did you love to do outside of your business or work? What fuelled your soul? Were these solo hobbies or did you have hobby friends?
- Personality – what did people admire the most about you? What were some compliments you often received? What will people miss the most about you?
This is a process not to be rushed. Take your time and think about what is the best version of you answers you want to give.
Once you have this weave it into a beautiful flowing piece that you would be proud to have said about yourself. And then read it out loud.
If you don’t feel any emotion while reading it, then take another look at this. Your life is meaningful and important to you. So have you written down answers from the very best version of you?
This is for your eyes only. It is an intimate exercise. It is your chance to dream bigger than you thought possible, be creative, be impactful, be meaningful and create an imprint in the world that will be missed once you are gone.
That is a powerful set of exercises we are going through today, and remember to breathe into it and feel however you need to feel.
When you’re ready to explore your legacy, success and impact on the world, here are ways to start the journey:
1. Wielding Legacy - weekly audio insights from Laura to help you build a legacy for yourself and your family. Gifted to you by Laura. Download the Kajabi app to have the weekly insights delivered straight to your phone. Limited to 100 active members.
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3. Stop being the best-kept secret in your industry. Brand Seduction will get you seducing your ideal clients in integrity to desire your services, and becoming sought after.
If you are looking to create a hugely impactful legacy, my one-to-one success coaching will change everything. The next available spot is August 2021 and is an £11,000 investment in your legacy.
