5 Steps to Write the Historical Narrative of your Life

What’s all the hype about Women’s History Month? Its origin dates to 1985, when Congress first designated the Week of March 7 as National Women’s Week. It later grew in stature when it was first recognized as a month-long national celebration by Congress in 1987 and has since been declared an annual proclamation for the month of March to celebrate the contributions women have made to the United States and recognize the specific achievements women have made in American history in a variety of fields.

Established with the best intentions at a time when women were rising to new levels of empowerment, however unfortunately, the designation often amounts to a superficial opportunity for brands to promote themselves as a company that honors and celebrates women.

Relevance of Women’s History for Today’s Women Leaders

Yet regardless of the intentions behind the month-long observance, my curiosity is directed more towards the bigger question of how applicable is women’s history for today’s women leaders?

History is inherently just that… history. It is defined by the study and documentation of the past. Remarkably, there are multiple synonyms offered to define history. However, there is only one antonym offered for history, and that is future.

Women leaders looking for lessons from the historical achievements of past women, must acknowledge that their past is not our past. And our past is not our future.

Historical Lens or Forward Leap

What value comes from looking back instead of looking forward or allocating time and resources to examine history instead of promoting the future of women? What changes when we abandon the historical lens for an eye towards the future? What is possible when we change our focus on our forward leap vs the historical steps that got us here?

Can history give us a path forward? I think most would agree, we don’t want to return to women’s historical past. Yet is there anything to be gained from revisiting it? If we look back for understanding, what do we gain that is applicable to the future? How can it impact what we want to create? By acknowledging achievement do we then know what is possible?

Rather than celebrate the past or look in the rearview mirror of historical accounts, I suggest we defy history by setting our sights on innovating a future for ourselves. What if we funded the future instead of upholding the past in celebration?

Learning from History vs Creating a Future

Something is said to be innovative when it is a new idea, method, or product, therefore innovation cannot take place in the past. By definition, innovation defies history because it is all about creating anew. When you innovate the future, you are funding your future. Funding the future, ensures your historical imprint.

So, how do you go about ensuring your own history as a woman leader? Begin by sharing your story. Sharing your story won’t guarantee that it becomes history, but it will translate into “herstory,” which are the stories created by the women leaders that follow you as they fund their futures.

How to Begin Writing the Historical Narrative of your LIfe

Finding or funding your future begins in the present as you show up. The content for the historical account of your story is curated by an accounting of what you are doing in the present. What is the impact you are having now? Who are you influencing? What positive changes are you bringing about as a team leader in the workplace or as the matriarch of your household? What are you creating for yourself and those that you lead? As you begin to answer these questions, you will begin to fill in the pages of what is to become your historical narrative. But don’t stop there. Here are five steps to write the historical account of your life by envisioning your future now.

·         Take an assessment of where you are. What’s working in your career? What’s missing from your life? What would you like to bring into your life? What do you need to let go?

·         Next, create a dialogue with your wiser elder self. Imagine sitting across from your older, more experienced self. What would she want you to do? How would she want you to show up? What legacy would she want you to leave behind? What impact can you have on others and those you lead by showing up in a new way or doing new things? What would she tell you not to worry about? What would she say is the most important impact you can have in your life?

·         The gap that is created between what you have in your life today and the legacy you envisioned from the conversation with your wiser elder self provides the lane in which you will move forward. Ask yourself, what opportunities exist now? Which ones can I create? Who do I bring along on this journey? Is there any more knowledge or education that I need to obtain? How can I bring more innovation to my life and career? What can I get started on right away? What’s the most critical action I can take to create my vision of the future? How will it be “funded” with allocations of time, resources, accountability, and productivity?

·         Write down what comes up for you as you consider these questions without editing. Committing it to writing will imprint the pages of the future you are creating to become “herstory” for yourself and the next generation.

·         Work with a coach or participate in a peer advisory group to hold yourself accountable to your action plan.