We have many so-called permanent records in our lives: school report cards, vaccination and health records, and, of course, those terrible performance evaluations at work.
I do like having digital health records—they make it easy for my doctor to help me maintain my health. But the report cards? I distinctly remember one school year when a teacher took me aside and said, “Careful, you don’t want that on your permanent record!” And performance evaluations? They said more about the person evaluating me than my actual work. (That might have something to do with my big mouth.)
Every time someone told me I might not want that thing on my permanent record, I realized I absolutely did.
That thing was a sign of my integrity, my satisfaction with myself. Besides, what’s really permanent about our permanent records? I’m sure I no longer have any report cards or evaluations. And because my records are so old, I suspect no one else has any copies.
So much for “permanent.”
However, too few of us take the time to decide what we want and what’s on our permanent records.
Our decisions are personal—one decision is not better or worse than another. But we might have some guidelines around how to decide.
Choose What You Want on Your Permanent Record
Part of my permanent record is what I create—books, blog posts, workshops—anything that lives past the moment that people can access sometime later.
I don’t think of my talks as part of a permanent record—even if someone records them. That’s because I hope that the speaking permanence is how people choose to act after they hear me.
That’s because useful talks invite us to change in some way. Very few of us just snap our fingers and change. Instead, we listen and consider what the speaker says. Then we swish it around a little in our brains. And finally, later—sometimes much later—we act. (My talk is the Foreign Element, the consideration is Chaos, but until the person experiments, there’s no Transforming Idea. See Where Are You in Your Changes? for more details on the Satir Change Model.)
While I’m proud of my talks, I’m even prouder when people act. Their actions create permanence for my ideas.
Another part of my permanent record is how I treat people, regardless of how we are connected. Some people differentiate between family, friends, and social acquaintances in how they treat others. I’m sure I’m not perfectly consistent, but I try to treat other people with respect.
But the real question I ask myself is this:
How satisfied am I with my actions and the outcomes I offer people? I often use my purpose to decide.
Choose Your Purpose to Clarify Your Satisfaction
In CAL Tip #15: Define Your Purpose, Your Why, I suggested we all need to know our why, the purpose that offers us meaning. I use my purpose to clarify what I want on my permanent record. And that allows me to decide how to treat other people, and to know what satisfies me.
You might find the same.
That’s the question for this newsletter: How satisfied are you with what’s on your permanent record?
Announcements…
The Q4 2023 Writing Workshop is open for registration.
I published the first iteration of the Project Lifecycles book. That book will help people stop with fake agility and support them as they need to use more agility.
And, I have a new self-study class (with optional coaching from me): Write a Conference Proposal the Conference Wants and Accepts.
Read More of Create an Adaptable Life
New to the newsletter? See previous issues. Also, I post these newsletters on my YouTube channel. I always take a couple more days to make and upload the videos.
Here are other links you might find useful:
- Create an Adaptable Life Blog to see the blog, not just the newsletter.
- My Books
- My Workshops
- Managing Product Development Blog
- Johanna’s Fiction
Till next time,
Johanna
© 2023 Johanna Rothman