What do you want to be known for?

By Madeleine MacRae | October 17, 2023

The other day, I was working on my TEDx application process.

During one of the training sessions, an incredible ThoughtLeader coach suggested that, as we work to narrow down the topic for our talk, we really think about what we wanted to be known for.

It was a simple suggestion and there wasn’t even an exercise attached to it, but it stopped me in my tracks.

Over the course of my live, I’ve given a lot of thought to what I have to give, what I’m called to give, what I want to give. I’ve thought about it in terms of contribution and leaving something behind that’s truly worthwhile, in terms of my gifts, in terms of those I want to help. I’ve even looked at it from the perspective of who I want to become along the way, but I have never looked at it as what I wanted to be known for!

I hadn’t considered it from that angle.

And the mere suggestion lit my mind and my heart up in a new way.

I immediately turned off the video and put pen to paper on that idea. I’ve sat with it and have looked at it many times and this is what I’ve written:

I want to be known for creating a spark, for tickling your brain, for showing you how, by examining your life — ALL of your life, not just the bright and happy moments, but the traumatic, dark ones too — you can break free from the tyranny of shame and live congruently with who you are and where you want to go.

I want to be known as a courage catalyst.

I want to be known for inspiring people to shine their light (Luceat lux vestra).

I want to be known for leading by example in showing you how to look at all of who you are, to love yourself and to be peace even when you’re still restless.

I want to be known for showing you how to live within a narrative that allows you to walk in integrity RIGHT NOW. How to make sense of all that you’ve done, all that you haven’t done, all that’s been done to you or that has been withheld from you. And I want to be known for unblocking your sense of discovery and helping you find freedom.

I want to be known as being a docile paintbrush in the hands of the Lord, for achieving my own eternal salvation and for inspiring others to do the same.

I’ve been aware of these things, these deep desires of my heart and soul for a long time and that one simple adjustment in perspective let me put it down on paper in a whole new way.