Does My Career Define Me?

Short answer: No. What defines me is my ability to put my grocery cart in the return spot when I'm done using it.

// if you don't do this then you are a diabolical person

✨Rise & Rage, Gremlins ✨

Guys, before we dive into it, I feel like I have so much to catch you up on!

You know the drill by now:

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Firstof all, has this little dude been living rent-free in anyone else's head? No? Just me?

^^^ You're welcome for that.

Let's see if I can remember the rest:

🦋 Its my birthday week! My thirty-second birthday... going to be the shortest yet! (buh dum shhhh 🥁😎) I'll be here all week, folks.
🦋 My wonderful friend and fellow Torc.dev Ambassador, Noah Allen, gifted me the one and only 3D printed Torc ring light (that he made himself). Literally the coolest gift! Checkout the unboxing on my TikTok. Its worth it to see the look of shock on my face.
🦋 We finished our first official Torc Book Club book and not to spoil it but I cannot believe that Darth Vader turns out to be Luke Skywalker's F A T H E R!!!! Insane.
🦋 Laracon was SO cool. That venue... top tier! The people I met, invaluable! Seriously it's going on the list of my faves. Next up: CYC Dallas!!
🦋 I finally started a huge project at work and it was such a weight lifted. I'm proud of myself for pushing through because it really was a grueling sales cycle. God bless this hiring manager too, he is a real one!

That's actually a perfect segue (NOT to be confused with segway, I am now learning). Really teed myself up for that one! 🏌🏼‍♀️⛳️

Does my career define me?

Does your career define you?

Recently, I spent a lot of time off of work doing some self-reflecting and in the midst of that, I was dealing with the immense stress of this big project I was trying to get up and running. The truth is, I was worrying down to the day that this kickoff took place. I had a few people tell me that I wouldn't be able to do what I was trying to do (because it had never been done before *cough cough*) and man if that self-doubt didn't decide to rear its ugly-ass head.

After a 10-month sales cycle, when this project kicked off, I sat back, put my feet on my desk, took a deep breath and panicked. Now that I had accomplished this thing that had been occupying so much of my brain space and energy, what was I supposed to worry about?? Think about?? That's what got my wheels spinning on this topic. Who are we without the big project? Without the major life goal? Does my career define me?

No?

Then that begs the question:

What DOES define you? Who are you when you are not achieving? Who are you when you are not trying to prove something?

....and who am I?

The great big world out there often encourages us to grind, to hustle, to give everything you have and then some to become a slave to corporate America (or whatever country you work in!) So let's take a walk and yap about who we are behind the 9-5. Where do you find your happiness and joy?

I think the sad thing about that question is that a lot of people, including myself, don't know the answer when they are initially presented with it. The reality is that for a lot of us, it takes true introspection to dig down to the depths and find out what it is about life or in life that brings us meaning and fulfillment.

The more I think about this the more I realize that it doesn't actually have to be a certain activity that you're doing. (Unless of course knitting sweaters for your 4 dogs sparks copious amounts of joy for you!) I think for me what brings me joy is kindness in others, seeing empathy in the world. Meaningful conversations. Human connection, folks. C O M M U N I T Y.

🔌Shameless Plug 🔌

Speaking of community, quick shoutout to Taylor Desseyn and his Guidance Counselor 2.0 podcast (that I was actually a guest on and you can check out here). At the end of his pod episodes, he always asks the guest something along the lines of "if your job disappeared off the face of the planet tomorrow and money was not a factor, what would you choose to do every day of your life?"

Y'all I love this question.

It commands us to think about what it is that brings us joy and happiness.

Another version of this question would be "if your job disappeared off of the face of the planet tomorrow, who would you be without it?" Not what you would do, but who you really are. I am begging you to ask yourself this and answer it honestly. Hell, feel free to drop it right in the comments below if you're brave enough.

Build your foundation, plant your seeds of joy and watch them bloom, baby!!

🗣️Hear me Now, Believe me Later 🗣️

Let me add this: I feel like I say this often but I'm going to keep saying it.. None of what I'm writing about here comes easy to me. You know what they say, coaches don't play! Its intentional consistency that I try to remember who I am behind that elevator pitch.

To be clear, I am not anti-career. I'm just pro-humanity and honestly we could all use a little more of that. Not just in others but also in ourselves.

So, who are you without the career?

What part of yourself do you miss when the burnout just becomes too much?

k I'm done being sappy now.

XX - Jordyn