Gapnote Blog

We know and understand ourselves better than anyone else so why not give ourselves the review we deserve? After you pass, do you wonder: What will people say about me? What will people remember about my life and how I treated them? How will I be eulogized?
Writing a personal Eulogy is for those who don’t like leaving things to chance, including having someone else struggle to summarize a Eulogy!
Below are some tips from “The Art of Manliness” on how to write your own personal Eulogy!

How to Write Your Own Eulogy

Of course you can’t come up with your own eulogy without knowing how to write one in general. Many of us probably don’t have much or any experience in eulogy writing. So let’s go over some basic guidelines for one.

There are several different formats a eulogy can take, and were we writing a real eulogy, you would want to take some time to come up with memories and humorous stories to weave into your speech. But for our purposes today, we’re going to keep our DIY eulogies simple and straightforward.

The easiest kind of eulogy to write is a “chronological eulogy.” Basically your start from the beginning of the person’s life, and give a run down of where they lived, their education, marriage, family, kids, career, accomplishments, and so on. Here’s how to get started:

Step 1: Write an outline.

Sit down and imagine that you lived until you were 90 and then passed away. Now picture what you did during your 9 decades of life. Where you lived, who you loved, how you acted. This is your life as you hope to have lived it. Jot down some “memories” of yourself in answer to the following questions.

* Where did you live? Did you stay in the town you were born in? Did you live in a far-flung land? Did you move every few years? Where did you retire?
* What were you hobbies? What did you enjoy doing in your 20’s and 30’s? What did enjoy doing with your family? What kept you busy in retirement?
* What kind of relationships did you have? Did you get married? How many kids did you have? How many friends did you have? Many? A few really good ones?
* Where did you go to school? What did you study?
* What did you do for work? Did you stay with one company or job your whole life or did you change careers many times?
* Did you win any awards or accomplish any noteworthy feats?
* What was most memorable about you? Your zany sense of humor? Your delicious cooking? Your insatiable love for adventure? Your passion for the outdoors? Your unshakable faith?
* What was it about you that people admired most? Your unwavering loyalty to friends? Your honesty? Your work ethic? Your love for you family? Your patience? Your leadership?
* What will people miss most about you? The creative homemade gifts you gave every Christmas? What a good listener you were? The handwritten letters you sent to friends? The way you could turn every mishap into something to laugh about?

Step 2: Turn your outline into a eulogy.

Now you’re going to take all of the ideas you just jotted down and coalesce them into a finished project. Here’s an easy format to follow:

1. Birth and childhood. Keep this section pretty brief.
2. College and career. Where you went to school, what you majored in, what jobs you had. Include any awards you won or accomplishments you made.
3. Family and relationships.
4. Your hobbies and interests
5. The qualities and characteristics that set you apart and made you memorable.
6. What people will miss about you.