DYL | Success vs. Significance: Designing a Life of Character

In this month’s Design Your Life meetup, we will explore the tension between resume virtues and eulogy virtues and what it really means to live a life worthy not just of success, but of character.

Drawing on David Brooks’ reflection, we will examine the difference between the qualities that make us impressive in the marketplace, such as skills, achievements, and productivity, and the qualities that define us in depth, such as courage, humility, love, and integrity. Brooks demonstrates how we all live with an inner tension. One side of us wants to build, conquer, and achieve. The other wants to be good, to answer a calling, and to cultivate virtue.

We will connect this to Marcus Aurelius and his simple but demanding Stoic challenge:

“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.”

The question becomes practical. Are we designing our lives around resume virtues or eulogy virtues? What weaknesses require honest confrontation? How do we cultivate depth of character in a culture that rewards visibility and success?

Reading or watching the materials is helpful, but not required to join.

Resume Virtues vs Eulogy Virtues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQNqlvKYYME

Have a Philosophy for Life and not seeking the Resume Virtues, Marcus Aurelius
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12N2LpNjnVMo-XLdjrTJ9Tsf9aTW7DG0D/view?usp=sharing

We will approach this not as a moral lecture, but as a design challenge. If eulogy virtues matter more, how do we intentionally build them into our daily habits, choices, and relationships?