How to craft your future now

In a previous post I talk about the importance of having a vision for your life and in another post I discuss figuring out what you are passionate about. If you look beyond the now and consider what you want to have achieved in your life before you die, it will not only give you a vision, it will tell you your passion.

In his book “The 7 habits of highly effective people” one of the things Stephen Covey suggests to get to your mission in life is writing your obituary. This will make you think about what you want to have achieved at the end of your life. A friend and I once wrote our obituaries as a joke after watching the movie Serendipity. After reading Stephen Covey’s book I found mine and tweaked it a little to reflect the life I now see for myself.

Below, I’m showing you what mine looks like so you can have an idea of where to start when you do yours, should you choose to do one. I look at it from time to time. Seeing it reminds me of where my life is going and it helps me to reflect if where I am right now and what I’m doing is in line with what it says. If not then I have to rethink what I’m doing.

Obituary for Sibo Hlabangana
Sibo was not only a mother and a wife but a friend to many. She is survived by her husband, H and 2 children, Timothy and Nomzamo. Anyone who knew her, knew her to be a great mother, wife and friend. She was not only a mother to her children but to all the children she worked with and whose lives she impacted.

Having grown up in Zimbabwe she went on to study in Grahamstown, South Africa, where she obtained a BA and an LLB Degree. She moved on to Cape Town where she worked as a Candidate Attorney and later as an Account Developer. After leaving that job she went on to volunteer for a non-profit organization in Bulawayo, where she felt she could help those who needed it most. She soon became a Lawyer with the same organization.

Her Inspire, Motivate, Empower (IME) mission was the beginning of so many things in her life that led to her leaving a legacy as one of the women who “did a little thing called changing the world.” Through this she started not only an organization but a movement that has led to many a dream being followed, belief that anything is possible and belief in the power of faith. She was able to do this and people believed her because her life was a testimony to all that she advocated for.

While she was working on inspiring people the world over, she met her husband H. Together they worked towards making the world a better place, one day at a time. It is while they were doing this that they met, fell in love with, and adopted their 2 children, Timothy and Nomzamo, whom they loved very much. She always wanted to adopt because she was concerned about the number of children without parents. This is also why she founded Faith Heals Foundation, an organization that works towards reducing the number of orphans in the world.

She also started the Passion Rules scholarship, a scholarship given to people who are passionate about a cause, with grades not being considered. This she did because she felt that people should not be judged on intellect alone, because passion beats intellect any day, she said.

She was a renowned speaker who reached millions of people through her talks as well as her bestselling books. She was an influential and inspirational woman who practiced what she preached.

She was a kind and generous person who put the needs of others before her own. It is likely as a result of this that throughout her life she was abundantly blessed. She always believed God would provide and as a result felt no need to worry or stress hence her positive disposition. She always said she wanted to leave the world having made an impact even if she didn’t live to realize it. She most certainly did this as we can all see the number of people here today and those that couldn’t be here who still sent their regards.

If she was here today she would ask that to remember her, make sure that you help those that need it whenever you have the opportunity or the means because nothing feels better than putting a smile on someone’s face. I hope you will do this to remember this African Queen.

Would you do your own obituary?