Your words last forever

We all post and comment at Facebook or Linkedin. We all write emails and send texts to each other. We all comment on blogs and websites. All those words. Words, words and more words. And wherever your words go, they are copied and stored and very likely will last beyond your lifetime.

Are your words written so that in the year 2043 your statements will still be coherent? Do you take the extra minute each time you’re writing to actually think through the message you want to convey? Do you take the extra two minutes to reread your words to ensure they make sense?

The reality is we generally do not take those extra moments. We hit send or post and our words are now out there for posterity. Here’s the question I am striving to ask myself every time I write now – “am I prepared to have these words last forever?”

Here’s my recommendation, which I am working to practice; every time you get ready to hit send, stop and consider whether you have met your own standard of communication. If you’re not certain, adjust your words until you have met your standard. It is an intentional act for a meaningful outcome. Words to friends, colleagues, clients, family, all of them. Take the pause to ensure your words and how they’re written are exactly what you want to have recorded for next month, next year and next decade.

That’s what hitting “send” means now. It’s your legacy of words.