Let’s face it, we’ll spend most of our lives working. The way things are going, it’s quite likely we’ll have to work until we die. And then quite a another big portion was spent studying so you had the required qualifications to work. So yeah, it’s a lot. It’s then no wonder that our job becomes part of your identify.
Think how you would present yourself to a new person: My name is X and I’m Y (nurse, doctor, civil engineer, IT project manager… etc) – this excludes if you are presenting yourself to another parent, then your reduced to kid x mum or dad.
What we do day in day out on the clock becomes part of our we identify ourselves. Quite a lot of us will feel proud that’s your job (probably others no so much or they will have to use fancier words so you can feel a bit prouder). The job we have and the titles we hold end up being quite important for our ego.
Not even that long ago, your own surname would define a generation of people doing the same job and passing the knowledge from family member to another. I’m so happy that I was born in modern days so I had the freedom of choice.
But actually if you think about it, this is a big dangerous.
Unconsciously you will be tying your self-worth to your job. If you don’t get that promotion how do you think you’ll feel?
Also, what happens if you loose your job? In these turbulent times you could loose your job not because you’re not good at it, but because the company needs to downsize to keep afloat.
A lot of people will feel absolutely depressed, not just because of the financial aspect, but I would say mainly because they feel part of their identify is gone and they have to reinvent themselves. After years holding your job as you hold your name, that change can feel very daunting. It is!
Some people hate their names, so they wouldn’t mind a change, but assuming you like your name and what you do, that you felt proud about it, having to reinvent yourself or figure out how to find a similar job someplace else it’s a huge blow.
But here’s an idea, how about we start to leave the job title behind and focus on the skills?
A certain skillset can be adapted to many different jobs.
Here’s my own example:
- I’m really good at getting shit done – yap, I am (except household chores, not so good at those and I will procrastinate until I have no choice but get it done).
This can be applied to anything really, from a demanding a COO, to work in the next door bakery.
Another example
- I’m really good at thinking of creative solutions to address complex problems.
Wherever you go there will be problems that demand solutions.
So how about you take a few minutes to think about what you’re really good at, it can be something you’ve been doing a lot, and hence you have a lot of experience or it can be something you know you are good and with a bit of learning you can get even better.
Thinking of how to utilize your skillset will allow you to adapt even where you are, in your company. You can try other roles and leveraging what you already know, and if your dear company pulls the carpet beneath your feet you’ll be able to reinvent yourself more easily too.
Good article about it here: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210409-why-we-define-ourselves-by-our-jobs
Book about change:
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