Brian Johnson explores David Brooks' distinction between résumé virtues, the skills you list on a job application, and eulogy virtues, the qualities people mention at your funeral. Brooks argues that building character means prioritizing the latter.
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Hi, this is Brian.
Welcome back to another micro class.
This one's on resume Virtues. It's inspired by the Road to Character by David Brooks. Phenomenal book resume virtues versus eulogy virtues. There's a big difference between these two. David's point throughout the book is that our culture is almost exclusively focused on resume virtues. What can we do to achieve now, of course, it's important that we have strong skills and abilities to create powerful.
Things in our lives, right?
But that needs to be counterbalanced with the eulogy virtues. And the reality is that everyone, if you asked, hey, what's more important ultimately, what's more important, Resume virtues, how well you can do things, or eulogy virtues, who you are in your deepest essence, the stuff that people are going to talk about at your funeral, which is more important? Everyone's going to say, well, yeah, the eulogy virtues are more important. But we spend almost all of our time cultivating the resume virtues. We need to spend more time focused on the eulogy virtues. Let's do that right now. When you fast forward to the end of your life, which, by the way.
Is going to happen, we don't want.
To deny that fact and you're gone and people come up and they have things to say about you, what do they say? What are the qualities that you hope they have to speak about in reference to you and your life and how you impacted them? Identify those eulogy virtues, begin with the end in mind, as Stephen Covey would say, and then live your life in integrity with those virtues. Now, moment to moment to moment, we have an opportunity to cultivate these eulogy virtues. That's the essence of character. Let's focus on it and realize as well as Stephen Covey says, he calls this primary greatness, primary greatness versus secondary greatness. And the reality is these virtues actually drive what ultimate success. And they bring more meaning and joy to our lives, right? But the success becomes a byproduct of our essence. And these eulogy virtues are a great way to get more clarity on how to cultivate character. Here's to your eulogy virtues, embodying them.
More and more, day in and day out. Have another awesome day.
See you.
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