Ali asks himself what he wants written on his gravestone and lands on good father, good husband and inspirational teacher
story · status: told 4× · last event: retold (2024-07-18) · owner: Ali
About: gravestone technique
| date | event | what | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-05-26 | told | Imagining his own gravestone, Ali would want it to say good dad, good husband and, to his surprise, inspirational teacher. | How To Figure Out What You Want To Do With Your Life 00:00:34 |
| 2021-10-29 | retold | Doing the gravestone exercise, Ali lands on some combination of good father, good husband and inspirational teacher. | 8 Lessons I Learned From Elon Musk 00:06:49 |
| 2021-11-30 | retold | With the gravestone technique Ali found he would want "good father, good husband and good teacher" on his gravestone: he cares more about being a decent teacher than about saving lives as a doctor, and encourages viewers to ask themselves the same question. | Why I Left Medicine... Forever 00:11:04 |
| 2024-07-18 | retold | Trying to work out what to do with his life, Ali asked himself what he wants written on his gravestone and quickly landed on some combination of good father, good husband and inspirational teacher. | How To Find Your Life's Purpose 00:00:00 |
What is said about it
7 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).
- 2021-05-26 · How To Figure Out What You Want To Do With Your Life — Ali realised teaching gave much of his life's meaning, from teaching at school and medical students at university to his YouTube channel, "teaching at scale", so it should maybe be part of his life plan. (hedged) — 00:01:03
- 2021-05-26 · How To Figure Out What You Want To Do With Your Life — recommendation: Ali: A second form of the gravestone technique: imagine what different people, such as close friends, family and work colleagues, might say at your funeral, and what you want them to say. — 00:01:03
- 2021-05-26 · How To Figure Out What You Want To Do With Your Life — recommendation: Ali: The third part of the gravestone technique asks what you want written on your Wikipedia page by the time you die: the achievements and the impact you want on the world overall. — 00:02:01
- 2021-05-26 · How To Figure Out What You Want To Do With Your Life — Ali says he never did any long-term planning until he started thinking about the gravestone questions. — 00:02:31
- 2021-05-26 · How To Figure Out What You Want To Do With Your Life — Ali has not found the answer to what to do with his life, but each time he does the three exercises he feels a little more clarity about it. — 00:09:27
- 2021-10-29 · 8 Lessons I Learned From Elon Musk — Ali: The gravestone exercise made Ali realise that he values being a teacher above all, and that practising medicine as a doctor is maybe not his calling, while teaching, on the internet or in real life, resonates more with him. (hedged) — 00:07:38
- 2024-07-18 · How To Find Your Life's Purpose — Ali: Working back from his gravestone answer while unsure about medicine, Ali asked whether he cared about practising medicine or teaching it, and saw he had most fun teaching other medical students, so he set out to teach more. — 00:00:00