Are you resumé building or legacy building?

This week I went to New York to support my friend, the force of nature that is Rosie Von Lila (for more, see VonLila.com). Her guest at the event was New York State Assembly Member Michael Blake, an inspiring individual indeed.

Paolo Coelho’s latest email to his subscribers had me recall something Mike Blake said to an amazing 18-year-old activist as advice. The whole exchange between them gave me goosebumps. The early 30s statesman and the young woman about to graduate high school the very next day and already focused on a career in public service.

One piece of advice he gave was to always consider in the choices we make :

“Are you resumé building or legacy building?”

So, to the Coelho post, a short tale, entitle “Be careful with your work” :

As a boy, Abin-Alsar overheard a conversation between his father and a dervish.
“Careful with your work”, said the dervish. “Think of what future generations will say about you.”
“So what?”, replied his father, “When I die, everything shall end, and it will not matter what they say.”

Abin-Alsar never forgot that conversation.

During his whole life, he made an effort to do good, to help people and go about his work with…