Answering “so, what do you do”

Being a solution-oriented person / Issue 1,085

Oh, hi friends!

What is the biggest part of your identity? 

Right now, <job title> at <X company> could feel like the most crucial part of your identity.

Or maybe, because you’re three months out from a fall marathon, “runner” could be the center point.

Or maybe you’re a “beach person,” “new mom,” “artist,” “coach,” “intern,” “sister,” “executive,” or a “person who lives off Trader Joe’s cheese.”

When we make a major change — quit a job, go back to school, create a new boundary, learn a new skill — our identities shift. And that’s not always easy. 

It’s actually scary. And hard.

Especially when you’re hit with that “soooo what do you do” question at the summer BBQ.

Remember that you’re not one noun, or a job description.

You can talk about what’s meaningful to you right now.

And if you do want your identity to change, the answer is to do something new.

"I have found that most troubles seem less troubling after a bracing cup of tea." 

—Mrs. Potts (aka Emma Thompson) from Beauty and the Beast (h/t Sara Tall)

OK, but can we make it iced? Also, glad I found my Halloween costume this early.

Word of the week:

Solution-oriented person

Someone I know used this phrase to describe another person, and even though our conversation was a month ago, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it! What a great descriptor. Not to be a person who fixes mistakes or cleans up messes, but a person who finds and creates solutions. I love it.

What does that look like to you?