Two different thoughts – “We are what we do” and “We are human beings, not human doings.”
I kind of agree with both.
I have tried many times to decondition myself out of the idea of “I am what I do.” It hasn’t worked.
I am constantly striving to match what I do with who I am. In many areas of my life, I would say that they are quite congruent – I am what I do – except in the entrepreneurship arena. I have floundered quite a bit in being me in business. By attaching so much weight to the things I want to do, I end up not actively pursuing them at all and instead, frozen in fear that I take the wrong step and make the wrong declaration to the world that “This [product/service/business] is who I am.” It has been a whole lot of pressure in doing the right thing!
However, I have to recognize that no one thing that I put out there can or ever will be “me.” The thing is not me, I am me. Whether I put out a coaching program for moms or for teenagers (both on the table now), it does not alter who I am. The coach I would be in each of those programs would be pretty much the same person minus some of the words and examples I would use. My offerings are an opportunity to bring me to the world. They do not define me. I am a human being – not a human doing!
I bring who I am to what I do, not vice versa.
I can’t and won’t be fully satisfied until my work fulfills me. However, I am digging into the idea that my work can be any number of things because my business nor my target audience/market determine who I am.
