When was the last time you updated your LinkedIn profile? Chances are, you listed your current job, maybe a few career highlights, and some impressive-sounding skills like “strategic leadership” or “project optimization.” But here’s a radical idea for July: What if the most important accomplishments of your life never made it onto your resume?
Welcome to the concept of the Life Resume: a record of the stuff that really matters. The things that shaped you, stretched you, or brought you joy. The moments that don't fit neatly into bullet points but define who you are more than any job title ever could.
What Is a Life Resume?
This checklist is your invitation to think differently. To track your emotional growth, personal wins, and quiet acts of bravery. To document the life you’ve built, not just the jobs you’ve held. A life resume isn’t about job promotions, awards, or certifications. It’s about the time you:
- Took a year off to care for a sick parent
- Volunteered at a local shelter every Saturday
- Learned how to change a tire (finally!)
- Got out of debt—without anyone cheering you on but yourself
- Forgave someone who never said sorry
- Moved to a new city with no safety net, and built a life from scratch
- Mentored a teen through their first job interview
- Had the courage to walk away from something that looked “successful” but wasn’t right for you
These are the “positions” and “projects” that reflect who you really are. And they’re worth tracking.
Why It Matters—Especially Now
Summer tends to be a reflective time. Maybe it’s the slower pace, the vacation days, or the halfway mark of the year that prompts a pause. It’s a great time to take stock, not of your professional growth, but of your personal evolution.
Creating a life resume helps you:
- See your resilience in a new light
- Celebrate emotional wins that often go unnoticed
- Clarify your values, which helps with decisions, big or small
- Tell your story with more depth and purpose (and yes, that can help professionally too)
It’s also a powerful exercise if you’re going through a transition: retirement, career change, divorce, caregiving, or empty nesting. It helps you realize your value goes far beyond what you do for a living.
How to Start Your Life Resume
Think less like a recruiter, more like a biographer. Start by jotting down moments or experiences under categories like:
- Pivotal Life Events (both joyful and challenging)
- Skills Gained from Real Life (e.g., conflict resolution, budgeting on a shoestring, managing grief)
- Personal Milestones (learning to set boundaries, cultivating friendships, healing from burnout)
- Things You’re Proud Of (no explanation required)
Don’t worry about formatting it. This isn’t for a job, board, it’s for you. You can keep it in a journal, a Notes app, or even write it out on a giant poster board if that feels good.
Share It (If You Want)
Sometimes, we keep our real stories hidden because they feel too vulnerable or don’t “count.” But imagine the impact if more people shared their true life accomplishments; how they overcame, what they learned, who they became.
You don’t have to share your whole life resume with the world. But sharing pieces with a trusted friend, a child, a partner - or even your financial planner - can open up deeper conversations about what you want your life to stand for.
Final Thoughts
A job resume tells the world what you’ve done. A life resume tells the world who you’ve become.
Ready to create your own Life Resume? CLICK HERE for steps to get started!