THE about me plan
Additional activities can be found on the “build your own plan” page.
There are many ways to share your story and document your life. Not only will your posterity enjoy remembering or learning more about you, but writing and recording your journey will help you see your life in a new way, and no one can tell your story better than you can!
Sometimes it is easier to answer questions about your life than to try to remember all that happened.
You can write your responses down in a paper journal/notebook or on your computer. You can even video record or audio record yourself talking about these prompts. We even created a beautiful journal that you can print out, personalize, and fill in your own responses.
Day 1
Choose Your Medium
Choose what medium you will be recording your personal history in this month. Some ideas are pen and paper, computer and keyboard, shared journal with your children, app on your phone, social media, voice recordings, or videos. It would be great to publish what you record this month when you are done! Here’s a list of some places that will help you do that.
Day 2
Create Your Timeline
Vertically down the page (paper or electronic) write each year you have been alive on a separate line. Then go back and add important events that happened in your life during those years. You aren’t writing the story but writing a phrase to capture the memory. You can go back to detail the story later. Example
Day 3
Describe Yourself
Describe yourself physically. mentally. spiritually. Describe your personality.
Tip: It’s ok to talk about how you are feeling mentally. Think of the healing that can happen if you share your depression or anxiety or what you worry about. Healing can come for you and for your descendants.
Day 4
Highlight Your Life
“Remember, it is not large accomplishments that makes success, it is the little things we do every day that over time turn into success.” Catherine Pulsifer
Talk about your accomplishments and/or goals in life. List what you’d like to accomplish. Describe how you accomplish goals in your life.
Day 5
Acknowledge Your Mentors
“(Mentors are) someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.” – Oprah Winfrey
Who is someone that has left a deep impact on you? What did they do? Write them a thank you note. Send it to them or just leave it in your journal.
Day 6
Picture Your Life
Use pictures to tell a story today. You can use one picture or more. If you use one picture describe what happened in the picture, include the date, people involved, place it was taken and the story. You can also take pictures of your day; at the end of the day describe what you are doing in each picture.
Day 7
Inventory Your Jobs
Write about your first job or your worst job or your favorite job. List all your jobs. Provide details like when and where. What have you learned while working that you’d like to share? Share any stories that come to mind when you think of jobs or work. It could be fun to write about your dream job, too!
Day 8
Write About Your Friends
As you write about your friends, think about these questions.
Who was your first friend? How did you meet? What do you look for in a friend? What do you do with friends? Who were your friends in elementary school? Middle school? High school? College? Adulthood?
Day 9
Write About Aunts & Uncles
As you write about aunts and uncles think about these questions.
How did it feel to become an aunt or uncle for the first time? What is it like to be an aunt or uncle? Who is your favorite aunt? uncle? Why? List all your aunts and uncles and something you want to remember about them. Write about some of the times you got to spend with an aunt or uncle.
Day 10
Describe Your Mom
Describe your mom. What does she look like? What do you remember her always doing? What is a lesson you learned from your mom? Where did she grow up? What story about her childhood do you know? How did she meet your dad?
Day 11
travel log
“To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, to gain all while you give. To roam the roads of lands remote, to travel is to live.” – Hans Christian Andersen
Write about your favorite trip. What was your worst trip? What is a future trip you’d like to take? Where would you go and what do you want to see or do there? List all the trips you can remember.
Day 12
story of love
Write about your love story. Write about your parents’ love story. What do you love? Who do you love and why?! What does love mean to you? What do you love about yourself?
Tip: Every Valentine’s Day or anniversary share your love story and/or your parents’ love story with your family. What a fun tradition!
Day 13
Share a Funny Story
“Always find a reason to laugh. It may not add years to your life but will surely add life to your years.” – unknown
When was the hardest you ever laughed? Write down the jokes you tell, don’t forget the punch line! Who is the funniest person you know? Why? What was your most embarrassing moment? How did you live through it?
Day 14
Write About Your Grandparents
Choose which of the facts to document about your grandparents: Their name, where they were born and grew up, a story about their childhood you know, a story about their adulthood how they met, a lesson you learned from them, your favorite memory, what reminds you of them, what items you own that they gave you or owned or.
Tip: If you have an item they owned use our Heirloom MMM to document it!
Day 15
Find Newsworthy Events
What has been in the news lately? How has it made you feel? Go back to your timeline and write at least one major news event for each year you were alive. Example Write your memories of these news events. How have they impacted your life?
Tip: Use the website The People History to find news events around the world.
Day 16
Share Traditions
“Traditions touch us, they connect us and they expand us.” – Rita Barreto Craig
What traditions do you have? Holiday traditions? What traditions did you have as a child? What traditions would you like to have?
Day 17
Describe your Dad
Describe your dad. What does he look like? What do you remember him always doing? What is a lesson you learned from your dad? Where did he grow up? What story about his childhood do you know? How did he meet your mom?
Day 18
Describe your Beliefs
As you describe your beliefs think about these prompts and questions. What do you believe spiritually? Do you believe in God? Many Gods? No Gods? Do you follow a certain religion? (Catholic, Baptist, Church of Jesus Christ, etc) What does your worship look like? Do you go to church on Sunday (what does it look like)? Do you read scriptures? What is your conversion story? Are there any religious holidays you celebrate?
Day 19
Write About Siblings
“A sibling is the lens through which you see your childhood.” – Ann Hood
As you describe your siblings think about these prompts and questions. Describe what your siblings look like. What is their personality like? What do you guys do when you get together? What are their lives like now? How has each of them impacted your life? What have you learned from them?
Day 20
Express Gratitude
“Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.” – Zig Ziglar
What are some things you are grateful for? How many can you list in 5 minutes? Write a letter of gratitude to someone in your life. (You don’t have to send it.)
Day 21
Share your Experience
“I learned that I do have a story worth writing down. I hope to continue writing so that my children have it.” – A May 2020 participant
Write about what you learned from this 21-day experiment. How have you changed? What are some goals you can set because of this change?
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