Part 1: Lifeline
Draw Your Lifeline
- Take a totally blank sheet of paper and put it in front of you with the long edges at the top and bottom.
- Draw a line from the left side of the page to the right that represents your life from birth up until this moment.
- For periods in your life that were “low energy,” draw the line lower on the page.
- For periods that were “high energy,” make the line go higher on the page.
You will end up with one single line going from left to right, with ups and downs that represent the highs and lows in your life.
When you’re done, go through and label each of the highs and lows with just a few words, like “parents divorced” or “got my dream job.”
Team Discussion
Show your lifeline to your team and talk through the highs and lows. Let them ask you questions.
For each high and low point, ask yourself: how did that experience shape my core values?
Part 2: Personal Credo
Write Your Credo
Imagine that you are nearing the end of your life. Write down the most important things you have learned in your lifetime.
The purpose is to preserve for future generations the lessons you believe are most vital. This is not a long essay, but a series of shorter statements, or pearls of wisdom. As you write, you can think of all of humankind as your audience, or just a dear friend or family member you’re writing for. Either way, try to capture the essence of your most important advice or insights into life.
Topics you might include
Here are some topics, each with an example of the kind of short statement you might write:
- Relationships: Start early, experiment, you have nothing to lose.
- Physical health: Duh…
- Success: Always changes. Think ahead.
- Work: Is a dirty word. Think about passion.
- Money: Is freedom to be happy, not happiness itself.
- Spirituality: Is everything. It’s your reason for the rest.
- Adventure: Is inward.
- Time: Is an illusion.
- Failure: Do failure awesomely.
- Facing challenges: Feels better than you think.
Team Discussion
When you’re done, share with your team what it was like to do this activity, and read them what you wrote. See what discussion emerges.
← All Processes