Who Are You Outside of Work: Creating an Identity Beyond Your Job Title

You can watch my video by clicking on the graphic below or read my thoughts beneath it:

Who are you? Do you remember the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland asking Alice that? That’s actually a really great question we should all ask ourselves. Who are you? What words describe you?

What do you want your life to be like? Who do you want to spend time with? What activities would you like to participate in? Are you interested in travel? If so, where do you want to go? What kind of hobby would you like to have, or would you like to have more than one?

What do you enjoy doing outside of work? These are really important questions to ask and then answer.

Something that I’ve been running into a lot over the last several years are people who don’t want to retire. And they feel this way not because they love what they do. They don’t feel this way because they are in a financial bind. They feel this way because they don’t have an identity outside of work.

To me, I find that really sad. I think it’s important to be accomplished in whatever field you are working in, but I also am a firm believer in the whole person. Who are you professionally, and who are you personally?

Now, of course, there’s going to be interconnection, because you are the same person. But if your entire life is consumed by work, what else do you have in your life? Does this mean you are pushing people aside? Does this mean there are people in your life who would like to spend more time with you but can’t, because you always have something else to do for work? Does this mean you are interested in nothing else outside of work? Nothing creative, no outlet, no hobby, no interest?

So think about it. No matter what your age is: who are you?

Want more ways to build a life that is bigger than your job title? Check out The Inefficiency Assassin: Time Management Tactics for Working Smarter, Not Longer.