What will they say at your funeral?
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010An interesting story about the what someone would say about you at your funeral.
A friend attended her mothers funeral over the weekend, 500 people attended from the local town and interstate, only 5 years earlier her father passed away with 700 people attending.
Both parents were very active with there local schools, long after the kids had left, the local choir, fund raising drives and community projects, they were both very respected and valued.
As she started talking to an older gentleman about the eulogy and what a wonderful life that her mother had they got chatting about what they did for work.
The older gentleman, lets call him Jack, he said that he had a massive career change 20 years earlier following an earlier conversation he had regarding what would be said at his funeral. Jack had a extremely senior position with Microsoft that was extremely demanding but paid accordingly.
Well Jack commented that his eulogy would make reference to what a wonderful project manager he was, that he delivered the projects on time and on budget, that he was committed to the company and was devoted employee.
From that moment Jack decided to make a change to his life, he immediately resigned finally acknowledging that work only represented part of his life, that it also included his wonderful family, loving wife, fantastic children and an interest in golf and always wonderful things that will push aside to accommodate his 10 to 15 hour days.
Within a short period Jack found employment with a company that acknowledged that work only represented part of a person’s life, that the company would invest time and resources into helping develop the employees personal lifestyle. Ultimately an employee having a poor personal life would adversely effect their performance and happiness in the work environment so the work/life balance was paramount.
Every employee from the CEO down to the receptionist worked a standard 9 to 5 day, if there was a requirement to work past 5 PM, then it was concluded that one of the following had happened;
1.The employee was not working efficiently and therefore needed additional hours complete the required work
2.That the employee was under resourced to complete the job, that the person should have enlisted the help of more people to ensure that the job will be completed within the assigned time parameters.
3.That the job assigned employee was not appropriate based on his level of expertise or skill set.
This was the watershed moment that changed Jack’s life forever.
Quite often we are caught up in life, through achievement, or upgrading/updating our stuff, bigger house, a new car, the latest and greatest home entertainment system, the newest phone etc.
We just sometimes need the catalyst to start the ball rolling.
Ultimately does all of this stuff or those achievements bring you happiness in life, or is it more about the people around you, the relationships that you have and what you give out to those around you in your local community.
What will they say at your funeral?
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