A CV (curriculum vitae, or résumé) is a common accompaniment to a job application. It outlines your career goals, educational qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge, and work history. Sometimes it will include references who can vouch for your capability to future employers. It’s an important document that gives an overview of your working life.

But not all our skills, knowledge and experience relate to work in a specific sense. We have many other accomplishments and achievements as well. And why shouldn’t we document and celebrate those as well? They may not ever be seen by a future employer, but they are just as important as our work achievements – perhaps more so, given we work to live, not live to work!

Having these details written down is a good reminder that we are already excellent members of the human race, and that’s something to be proud of. So next time you are feeling down about yourself, try out this exercise: create your personal life CV!

Here’s my example:

Personal Life CV

My aspiration in life is to become a published novelist, and to continue my writing into a paid career.

Skills and proficiencies

• Experienced in pop culture with ability to make obscure references in a single bound
• Excellent listener
• Ability to temper honesty and compassion to provide measured advice
• Well versed in identification of scams and fake news
• Good singer with skills in a number of different instruments
• Committed friend, wife and cat-mother
• Adept at internet research for pretty much anything
• Strong Facebook stalking abilities
• Confident English speaker and writer
• Basic ability in Japanese and Greek language

Life history

• Completed high school, college and university
• Consistently employed for adult life
• Married with four cats
• Homeowner
• Well-travelled

Education and training

• Diploma in Dream Analysis
• Introduction to Fencing
• Introduction to Tae-kwon do

Personal interests

Writing, gaming, gardening and Netflix. Spending quality time with my cats.

Referees

Lots of great friends who are there for me, as much as I am there for them.

 

And there you have it! Now it’s your turn – celebrate all that you are that makes you awesome!