072: There's More to a Rewarding Life than Recognition and Awards

It's amazing how a simple request can trigger wondering or doubt about your personal accomplishments.

That happened to me recently when I was asked to share any awards or recognitions I had received relative to my career as a writer.

I went blank and then I was like, "Wait...I've accomplished a lot helping companies and individuals tell their "stories" and promote their products and services as a professional writer since 2006..."

But with no recognizable awards or what I would consider outstanding public recognition for such I somehow felt as though I'm not that big of a deal after all.

My keen self-awareness gives me pause to push back a bit and think, "hey, I'm good at what I do and dog-gone-it (awards or not), I'm not gonna get down on myself."

I remembered during an earlier period in my professional writing career that I provided resume writing services.

I'm skilled at helping people read between the lines relative to their skills, education, work experience, and accomplishments.

And then organizing their transferrable skills in a way that gets their foot in the door with a prospective employer for an interview.

That's how the resume writing gig works.

So I began to turn the tables on myself as if I was reading between the lines of my own life in that earlier mentioned moment when I was questioning my un-awarded self.

It began to occur to me (as I stewed in my no major award funk) that reading between the lines of my years as pro-writer I've been awarded a number of transferrable accomplishments that no award or public recognition can compare to.

My life and experiences and how I use them, like your life, your experiences, and how you use them create their own rewards.

With that in mind, let's talk about your legacy and how to live boldly as you age without thinking you're less valuable because you don't have name or award recognition.

This is an important consideration especially when it's easy in the second half era of life to question how much you've really accomplished as you compare yourself to others and the younger generation.

Experience is its own award and the recognition of a life well-lived is what gives your life and legacy its rewarding impact

I choose to focus on my skills and experience and how I continue to leverage it for impact.

I encourage you to do the same especially when you might feel marginalized by a lack of public or private recognition.

• Be yourself without trying to prove yourself.
• Think less about what you haven't accomplished and more about what you still can accomplish.
• Learn from your past and live in the wide margins of your present opportunities.

Be yourself without trying to prove yourself

I've mentioned it before.

A memorable piece of advice I received years ago and early in my former career was, "Eddie, be yourself."

A struggle you might have with that counsel is, " But I don't really like or consistently trust myself.

If you're still saying that after all these years, it's no wonder you've expended an amount of energy trying hard to...prove yourself!

It's time to get comfortable with the one and only YOU!

And even if the YOU staring back from the mirror is a bit tired, gray, or weathered around the edges...who the freak cares?

You are you and that's enough, my friend!

• Be yourself by incorporating more of what makes you unique - your life experiences, your skills, your discoveries, and the setbacks you've overcome along the way.
• Be yourself through engaging in new interests that peak your curiosity - make this your personal renaissance era!
• Be yourself when its easy to blend into the background of aging - declare yourself relevant and capable regardless of your age.

Think less about what you haven't accomplished and more about what you can still accomplish

The problem with dreams is that you wake up one day realizing that it was in fact, a dream perhaps unfulfilled.

That awakening can leave you feeling as though you've slept through most of your life and it's all been one decades long dreamscape.

Fixating on what you haven't accomplished but merely dreamed about can be among life's crushing regrets.

Sure, that burden is motivational in its own way but more so if you actually allow it to awaken you to the potential of accomplishment that is available with each sunrise.

Age does a number on you especially if you think of it as something more than well...a number.

• Stop telling yourself that a person of your "age" can't do something - "why not" is a much better question to ask yourself than questioning your own capabilities relative to your age.
• Believe that accomplishments have a long shelf-life - a "what's next" mindset will keep your shelves adequately stocked with anticipation, energy, and motivation to accomplish more than you may think possible.

Learn from your past but focus on living now in the wide margins of your present opportunities

"Your past explains you but it doesn't lock you in!"

That's another of those wisdom-gems someone dropped on me a few years ago.

Your past becomes an ongoing problem when you allow it to keep expanding and offering what seems like an endless explanation for why you can or can't pursue new opportunities.

If so, it's time to flip the script on your past and treat it as a learning opportunity instead of a burden to carry into your present life.

• Expand the margins of your life by reflecting on the wisdom gained from your past - why did you take a particular action or make a certain decision, what did you learn, how did you grow from it?
• Leverage your wisdom into new opportunities - try, fail, learn, grow...rinse-and-repeat.

Your most notable awards and the recognition that goes with them have more to do with how you've lived, how you've grown, and the legacy you're creating as we speak

• Be yourself without trying to prove yourself
• Think less about what you haven't accomplished and more about what you can still accomplish
• Learn from your past but focus on living now in the wide margins of your present opportunities

Press on...

Eddie