Your Path in Words
Questions about your early life and career
Text & Illustration by Liz Ryan
CEO & Founder, Human Workplace
www.humanworkplace.com
Copyright Human Workplace 2013 Please do not copy or send electronically.
www.humanworkplace.com
Your Path in Words
This mini-EBook from Human Workplace was designed to
help you tell your story, describing your path since you were
a baby. In our Reinvention Roadmap program focused on
reinvention and career change, we begin a by asking a person
in reinvention to tell his or her own story – to him- or herself,
or to someone else. We have to know where we’ve come from before we can decide where
we’re going!
Here are 25 questions for you to think about and to answer if you like. We’ve included space for
you to write your answers below each question. The 25 questions focus on your childhood and
your early adulthood, and ask you to think about your life during those years. What interested
you? What did you think you’d like to be when you grew up - in other words, right now?
We find that when a person can reclaim his or her own path by first telling the story in words or
pictures to him- or herself and/or other people, he or she can get power from the story. When
we recall what we were like and what we thought about when we were children and what
we’ve learned along the way, we gain insight. We get “Aha!s” by thinking about our own story.
Sometimes we notice a trend or through line that weaves
throughout our story. Sometimes we notice only in retrospect
shifts or nudges from the universe that got us out of one
situation and into a new one. We can reclaim our path and the
learning we gained along the way when we tell our own story.
So, let’s dig in!
On the next several pages are 25 questions about your childhood and early
adulthood.
When you think about and answer each question, you’ll write a little more of your
story.
As you recall your early years and the learning that you gained from your
experiences, your understanding of yourself will grow.
Your mojo will grow, also!
Copyright Human Workplace 2013 Please do not copy or send electronically.
www.humanworkplace.com
Your Path in Words
1. Where were you born?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
2. Who were your parents? Where did they come from?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
3. How did your parents come to be living in the town where you were born?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
4. Did you grow up with brothers and sisters? What about other close family members?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Copyright Human Workplace 2013 Please do not copy or send electronically.
www.humanworkplace.com
5. What is your earliest memory?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
6. Where did you live? Did you move while you were growing up?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
7. What did you like to do when you were little?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
8. When you did you start to go to school? Where did you go to school? Did you like it?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
9. What were your favorite things to do when you were a child?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
10. Who did you play with, and what did you play together?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Copyright Human Workplace 2013 Please do not copy or send electronically.
www.humanworkplace.com
11. Did you like to read or draw or paint or play sports? What did you do for fun?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
12. Did you have chores and responsibilities when you were a child? What were they?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
13. What were you interested in when you were a kid? What did you plan to be when you grew up?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
4. Who were your role models when you were a child? What was it about those role models that
made you look up to them?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
14. What happened in your life as you went to high school or gymnasium? What were you
interested in during those years?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
15. Who did you hang around with in school? What did you do?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Copyright Human Workplace 2013 Please do not copy or send electronically.
www.humanworkplace.com
16. Did you have jobs when you were a teenager? What jobs did you have?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
17. What did you do with money you earned or that someone gave you?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
18. What was important to you as a teenager?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
19. What happened after high school or gymnasium? Where did you go next?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
20. What was your young adulthood like?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
21. Did you go to college? If so, what did you study, and why?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Copyright Human Workplace 2013 Please do not copy or send electronically.
www.humanworkplace.com
22. What social activities did you participate in during college or during your college-age years?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
23. Did you get involved with clubs or groups as a college age person? What were they?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
24. Who were your friends during college or your college age years? What sorts of things did you do
together?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
25. What were you especially skilled at during those years?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
What are your biggest “Aha!s” after answering these questions about the first part of your
Path? What did this exercise of story-telling get you thinking about, or help you remember?
My “Aha!s”:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Copyright Human Workplace 2013 Please do not copy or send electronically.
www.humanworkplace.com
What do I do now?
You may want to spend some time thinking about your path and your future direction.
You may want to take a step to start zeroing in on your direction, your brand and your strategy.
To continue telling your story and answering questions like the ones in this mini-EBook, you can
purchase the Workbook Your Path So Far which includes 75 more questions about your life,
your career and your goals. You can purchase that Workbook at
http://www.humanworkplace.com/products/reinvention-roadmap/
You may want to dive in! If you are in reinvention or career change mode, also take a look at our 12week virtual coaching group Reinvention Roadmap. That program focuses on your career direction, your
brand and your strategy. You can learn more about Reinvention Roadmap at this
link:http://www.humanworkplace.com/products/reinvention-roadmap/
Reach us:
Michael Wilcox, Operations Manager
michael@humanworkplace.com
(303) 440-0408
Copyright Human Workplace 2013 Please do not copy or send electronically.
www.humanworkplace.com
What is Human Workplace?
Human Workplace is a publishing, coaching & consulting firm. Our mission
is to reinvent work for people. Human Workplace is a movement of people in
200 countries who are building the Human Workplace together.
How can I get involved in the Human Workplace movement?
Here are ten ways to collaborate with us:
 JOIN Human Workplace at
http://www.humanworkplace.com
 JOIN our LinkedIn Group at
http://tinyurl.com/humanworkplaceli
 LIKE Human Workplace on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/humanworkplace.com
 FOLLOW us on twitter: @humanworkplace
 BRING Human Workplace to your
organization to speak live or deliver a webinar –
reach Michael Wilcox at
Michael@humanworkplace.com
 GROW YOUR MUSCLES & MOJO™ with us via a Human Workplace 12-week
virtual coaching group
 TELL your friends about Human Workplace!
 READ our CEO Liz Ryan’s columns on LinkedIn, Business Week, TIME.com,
Kiplinger’s Finance, Yahoo!, the Huffington Post, Denver Post and Harvard
Business Review
 COACH with us on the creation of your Human-Voiced Resume™, your
career strategy and branding or your entrepreneurial leap
 TELL US your ideas! Write to Michael at Michael@humanworkplace.com
Human Workplace
www.humanworkplace.com
Copyright Human Workplace 2013 Please do not copy or send electronically.
www.humanworkplace.com