You eulogy is not about your professional resume. Eulogies are about how you impact those around you. This process can be a powerful tool for personal growth and legacy planning.

What and how do you want to be remembered? Celebrate where you were, how far you’ve come, and the gaps that you would like to fill before the end.

Looking back forces us to identify what truly matters and helps align current actions with long-term aspirations. This is a reflective practice. Writing about yourself in the third person can provide the emotional distance needed to celebrate your progress and forgive past mistakes. 

Here is an example of an introduction to a eulogy: I want to thank all of you for being here to honor the life of [your name] and share memories about the many ways she/he enriched your lives.

Use the below questions that resonate with you. I started with: What were your dreams? Did you leave any dreams on the back burner? If so, list a few steps to set them in motion again.

If your dream was a childhood fantasy, recognize you weren’t wrong. You were early and you were rehearsing possibilities. I thought I would be living on another planet colonized by the United States. It happened when Neil  Armstrong took that first step on the moon. He made that jump look like fun and had me wondering about my future. I may not live on the moon, but I can still live with that same sense of wonder, adventure, and curiosity. The location changed. The impulse didn’t.

What steps can I take to renew my sense of wonder, adventure, and curiosity? Living off planet won’t work but visiting Rome this year will check a box and planning a tandem jump with a professional skydiver are on my 2026 list of things to do to create that sense of wonder, adventure, and curiosity.

After answering any of the below questions, notice what awareness you have, what you have changed, and what steps you can take to keep your life a work in progress. Focus on the positive.

Questions Create Awareness

Who did I think I would become? How am I different than what I thought I would be? 

What truly matters to you? Does your life reflect that?

What did you learn along the path you took? Notice the growth, the ups and downs, and how you have dealt with them.

How resilience were you during the hardships? How much more resilient are you today?

What are your character traits? Loyalty, kindness, honesty, resilience, and courage. Don’t forget the negative ones like selfishness, impatience, moody, gloomy, jealous. Here is a link to check out a long list of personality traits that can be fun to explore. What has changed? What would you like to stop being and doing? Where are you headed? Look for the growth and progress you have made. Now which traits would you hope your best friend will stand up and tell everyone at your funeral?

What are your unique quirks or habits that everyone who truly knows you will recognize?

What have been the major “turning points” or “chapters” that shaped your life? 

What challenge have you overcome?

What do you truly care about?

What are the important lessons you learned?

What would you like your final message to be to those you love?

Now, where do you want to go in the future? What do you want to be remembered for? What step(s) can you take today to create that future?

Your eulogy allows you to view past hardships through a lens of growth and resilience rather than judgment.  Reflecting on life’s highlights encourages appreciation for existing relationships and helps you eliminate any unfulfilled dreams.

By envisioning your ideal legacy, you can clearly see where you would like to make changes and take steps to create something different.

If you don’t like to write, answer some of the above questions in your mind and ruminate about them. Imagine your own eulogy. What are people saying? What stories are they telling about who you are? This can motivate you to live more authentically and align your actions with your values.  

Once you’ve written your eulogy, go out and start living your truth.

The eulogy exercise should move you forward in your life. If you start beating yourself up, can’t get past an event or person, or struggle with a character trait you would like to change, please schedule a session with Donna Brown Hypnosis, the Houston Hypnotist.

Hypnosis gets to the subconscious beliefs that are holding you back from being the person you want to be. I’m ready when you’re ready!