When you meet a stranger, how do you introduce yourself?
For the longest time, my answer would start with my name. I would say where I was from. If it was not a professional setting, I would say I was married with kids. But almost always, within the first few sentences, I would tell them what I did for a living. In other words, where I worked and what my job title was.
My self esteem was so dependent on my job
I don’t think I was unique in this. We are conditioned such that what we do for a living is an ingrained part of our identity. People have their own names associated with an occupation. We cannot think of ourselves beyond our job. But then you reach a point, where you ask yourself, is this all there is?
What if there is no “job” tomorrow?
If you have battled that question, and your answer is "another job", then I will be the first to admit I am not the best person to solve it for you. There are better "coaches" out there who will help you build a fancy AI-powered resume that will dazzle an AI-powered hiring filter. No worries. But if your answer to that question is something like "Wait a minute! I am more than just a 'job'", then this is the place to be!
At this point, I could go into a fancy, marketing spiel. But I will not do that. Because I suspect you already knew this. You already knew that what you do from 9-5 is not who you are. You already have a dream laid out, where you are just waiting for something to happen that you don't have to worry about your job anymore. Something, anything, your kids graduate from college, your mortgage is paid off, you can draw on your 401(k) without penalties, whatever.
But you know, you just know deep down, that there's something holding you back. It held me back, for sure! That something, believe it or not, is not where you want to go. You already know that!!
It is where do you begin, and how do you get there?