What Will Your Tombstone Say?

I was very thankful tonight to be in a room surrounded by creative, energised people in my hometown of Launceston, Tasmania.  There were ideas circulating a plenty, but one of them still has me thinking at 11.17pm, so I decided that had to be the one I shared with you.

Graeme Walker, founder of Walker Designs (link to www.walkerdesigns.com.au) spoke so passionately about one of his mentors and a tool this mentor had taught him that the entire room went silent as he shared what he'd learnt. The tool was something I interpreted as a great way to prioritise things in your life.

The lesson was simple, but beautifully succinct in it's simplicity and was: figure out what you want your tombstone to say at the end of your life, and when faced with a dilemma, remember back to your tombstone and chose the option that leads towards what you want it to say.

Can't seem to get it out of my head!

I just came across this post from September 11 this year by one of my favourite bloggers Seth Godin which also reinforces this message: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/09/remembering.html

What will your tombstone say?

Kirsty Dunphey is the youngest ever Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year, author of two books (her latest release is Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can) and a passionate entrepreneur who started at age 15 and opened her own real estate agency at 21. Currently Kirsty heads up www.reallysold.com the premium online copywriting site for real estate agents and is a co-director of Elephant Property www.elephantproperty.com.au Launceston, Tasmania's only boutique real estate agency purely for investment property owners. Kirsty's other ventures are outlined at her website www.kirstydunphey.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter.

Weird But Cool Moment

A few years back someone came up to me and asked if I was “Real Estate Kirsty”.

Now to me, “Real Estate Kirsty” sounded like she should have her own action figure and superhero costume, it was quite a bizarre moment really.

But the more I thought about it, the more I liked it because:

• It was spot on for my branding at the time in my local area
• It meant that this person remembered not only my name but what I did
• It was soo much better than “real estate KRISTY”!
  

So what would your action figure be? Lawyer Simone, Jack of All Trades Jack, Hairdressing Harry?

But more so, are people associating you with what you do. If someone needed a real estate agent, I would have loved for them to have thought of “Real Estate Kirsty” first. What or who do your potential clients think of when they think of your industry?

Kirsty Dunphey is the youngest ever Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year, author of two books (her latest release is Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can) and a passionate entrepreneur who started at age 15 and opened her own real estate agency at 21. Currently Kirsty heads up www.reallysold.com the premium online copywriting site for real estate agents and is a co-director of Elephant Property www.elephantproperty.com.au Launceston, Tasmania's only boutique real estate agency purely for investment property owners. Kirsty's other ventures are outlined at her website www.kirstydunphey.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter.