You are more than your job: How can you work excellently without jeopardizing your self-worth?

Friday: Mindfulness by Miles FROM THE DESK OF MILES EVERSON: Hello! Welcome to today’s edition of “Mindfulness by Miles!” Every Friday, I talk about a topic that I find useful in my life. My hope is that my own experiences will also help you in your personal life and career. In this article, allow me to share with you my experience in moving from one company to another. Continue reading below. I’m highlighting some of the lessons I learned throughout my 30+ years in the industry and the importance of knowing your worth as a person. CEO, MBO Partners Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute

You are more than your job: How can you work excellently without jeopardizing your self-worth? After switching jobs from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to MBO Partners, a lot of strangers, colleagues, and family are asking what I am doing now. As odd as it seems, I hadn’t gotten that question for a while because based on my experience, when I worked at the same company for 5 or more years, most of those around me knew WHAT I’m doing and WHO I am. However, after taking on a new role as MBO Partners’ CEO, I began paying attention to how people introduce themselves. Here’s what I observed: I noticed that many of us, no matter what social setting we’re in, tend to identify only by our names and occupations. For me, this is not a surprise because when we were children, people constantly asked us: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” … then we would respond with: “I want to be (insert job title).” … and when we became adults, that statement turned into: “I am a (insert job title).” That’s why it’s no wonder that upon first-time introductions, most of us commonly say: “Hi, my name is Miles. I’m the CEO of MBO Partners.” This shows how we tie a central part of our identity or worth to our jobs. It’s interesting to think that the first aspect of ourselves we want people to know or think about us is what our job is. Then, when you get to know someone, you’ll realize that person has aspects of his or her job that he or she highly dislikes or doesn’t have the same amount of passion for. I find this issue important and ponder-worthy because of the focus on self-worth and self-identity in today’s society. I grew up in a time when much of our self-worth was tied to what we became or what our job was. In many ways, people look at jobs on a rankability scale. For instance: If one says he or she is a college graduate with a Ph.D. in neuroscience and another one says he or she is a dog walker, people commonly regard these individuals with different levels of respect and esteem. I believe, from this mindset stems a major error and problem in our society. You see, much of our “pride” is in conjunction with what we do. Most of us work hard in our jobs to prove something or make someone proud of us. Though there is nothing wrong with working hard to get to where you want to be, you have to be careful to not put too much of your identity in your career. Below are my top 2 reasons why I think our careers shouldn’t define our identity. Jobs are provisional. I personally believe that our jobs are not life sentences. We will not hold the same job title or even be at the same company for the rest of our lives. Especially with the growing trend of individuals changing jobs every 3 years nowadays, having a job as your defining identity trait can cause major self-worth issues. We have to understand that life is filled with uncertainties. Whether we like it or not, we will never have complete control over our circumstances; we can only control how we react to them. … and while you may identify yourself as a hard working 9-to-5 business professional today, in 4 years, you may be someone owning your own company or someone who quit corporate life altogether and chose to work with non-profits. All I’m saying is that you never know what kind of experiences you may go through in the future, what opportunities may come knocking at your door, and how you’ll develop and change your self-worth over a year. Remember that nothing in the world is permanent, and a job is something you can redefine at any moment. Values outweigh titles. A lot of us get caught up in having a specific job title or rank in a company. However, I’m here to tell you that titles are not always what they seem. I’ve known many people to work so hard, sacrificing so much of their sanity and self-care to achieve a certain rank or title. Yet when they got it, it only took months or weeks to realize it was not what they actually wanted or thought it would be. They soon became obsessed with another job title and continued down a path of self-neglect in their overall health. There was also a time when I struggled taking care of my health when I was focused on my job. I let my values of self-care, exercising, and doing fun activities with loved ones slip away, all for the sake of my career. Thankfully, I had people who helped me get back on track with my values. I caution all of you to remember that your identity should be defined not by your job but by what you love to do, what you value, and those you cherish. Remember that your friends and family don’t care about what kind of job you have or how much you make. All they care about is your happiness and spending time with you. I’m not saying you should stop working excellently. All I’m saying is you should know your priorities and that the best things in life are not simply found in having the best career or rank out there. I believe these lessons are important for everyone. I only realized these when I transitioned from PwC to MBO Partners. If someone told me a few years before I left PwC that I’d be at MBO, I would have laughed and thought they were crazy. However, as new doors opened for me, I realized my identity was changing. I had to come to terms with the fact that I was now something new and, in many ways, someone different. This feeling made me pause and think about how I viewed my identity for a long time and how I’ve come to understand it over the past few years. Through the transition of a job change, I learned my career doesn’t define my identity because the only approval I need is my own. I believe everyone, especially younger individuals, should come to terms with these learnings. It’s important to know that your self-love and identity are worth more than your current paycheck or job title. I hope you find today’s article insightful! If you’d like to share with me your experiences, feel free to comment on this article or connect with me through my LinkedIn account. Follow us on LinkedIn.