It's Who You Are
During the month of March we are speaking with incredible women about their experience with the hustle culture as part of our #HustleForBetter campaign and shine light on the many different ways we can approach success.
Without reading ahead, grab a pen and a piece of paper and answer this question "who are you?"
I'm going to take a stab in the dark here and guess that somewhere on that sheet of paper you listed your career, business, or job title. When introducing ourselves to a new person, after we say our name, the next thing we tend to say is what our job is. We've seen it time and again at our events at The Merit Club. Almost by a force of habit, we recite what it is that we do without really thinking about it. Though there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, it got us thinking, aside from our name is our job title really the second most important aspect of our identities?
In many ways, life seems to be centred around the careers that we all have. Many of us were told to aim for good grades, study hard and stayed focused so that we'll be able to get good jobs, make good money and be happy. The age-old question of "what do you want to be when you grow up?" was a staple in many of our childhoods, this attached our identities to our careers without us even realising it. Whilst it's great to aim for more and want to become the best version of ourselves, have we fallen into the trap of placing too much emphasis on building our careers, finding the jobs we love but not building ourselves up and finding out what it is that we love? The trending nature of hyper-productivity has been heightened through social media and the almost inevitable comparison that comes with it. With the hustle culture telling us to "work harder" and successful entrepreneurs boasting that "we have the same 24 hours" it can be hard to feel as though what we're doing is valuable. The problem with this is that we may begin to assume that external factors (our careers) will give us internal validation.
In a recent blog post written by Natalia Tarjanyi, CEO of Centrd Life, Natalia discussed that after struggling to manage work commitments and becoming restless, she once had to google "How to take a nap?", yup, a nap. This came after having devoted so much time to her career, she just didn't know how to stop and rest. Before she got to this point, she followed her dreams and became an owner of a successful café yet after a couple of years, she noticed just how unhappy she was. Natalia soon came to the realisation that she was more than her job title and wanted to truly discover who she was. Now, she revels in her ability to travel, explore, learn new things, meet new people, and live her life the way she wants to. Her identity continues to develop day by day as she gets to enjoy the things that truly make her happy. Sadly, her story is nothing new, there are many women who chase after what they believed to be their dreams, only to realise that it compromised their mental health, and they end up hating the thought of it. It's worth noting that wanting a good job is not the problem, nor is having ambition. The problem occurs when we base our identities not on who we are but believe that our jobs or income defines us.
On this journey of life, we implore you to not get caught up in labels, titles, or accomplishments, but instead get to know yourself and establish your identity on your own terms. Embrace the things that you love and even the things that you don't love. Surround yourself with people who have common interests to you, people who have the same sense of humour. Step outside of your comfort, take yourself on a date, try new food, and just enjoy the process of discovering who you are. Begin to reconnect with who you are at the core, you never know, you may just surprise yourself.
Now, after everything you've just read, grab a pen and a piece of paper, and answer this question "who are you?". The next time you meet someone, rather than tell them about what it is that you do, tell them about the kind of person that you are the things that truly make your soul sing.
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