Identify yourself!

Posted on 12th May 2014 at 9:37 PM from Warwick
Listening to Mumford & Sons :: White Blank Page

How do you identify yourself?

I have noticed recently several radio shows have members of the public as guests and they are identified by their name, where they live and what they do for a job. Today a television show had the same thing except the four people were all retired so they were labelled by their former profession.

To identify a person by their name is sensible as that is how they are mostly addressed. The area of the country in which they live seems reasonable as well. However, what does a person's profession really add to what we know about them as a person? If the person were entering a music quiz then them being a DJ or musician might be relevant but does it make a difference if they are a postman, butcher or teacher?

This set me thinking about my own identity and how others view me and much more importantly, how I view myself. I certainly do not define myself by my profession. By education and professional practice I would be best described as an IT professional but that is in no way relevant in anything other than a historical sense. Most of my time 'working' is now spent caring for my mother so perhaps I am a carer. Whilst accurate it is not my occupation any more than being a dog owner is my occupation. Maybe I need to look to where the majority of my income is generated in which case I am a Network Marketing Professional. Again there is a problem as this takes up very little of my time in comparison to other areas of my life.

Looking at what I do seems very unhelpful in defining who I am. So perhaps my roles will be more helpful. My role as a carer or my role as a dog owner or even my role as a mentor to fellow team members. Alas, I don't even think this is helpful as none of my many roles define who I am either.

For that I need to look deeper. I need to look at my core beliefs, my goals, my aspirations and the motives that underpin them. Like every other person on the planet I have 6 fundamental needs and it is the order of importance of those and the methods I use to satisfy them that more closely define what it is that makes me unique. Those characteristics are in turn wholly dependent upon the core beliefs I have about life, society and my role within it.

Herein lays the miracle. We can change our beliefs. Therefore we can change the entire essence of who we are as people. Surely this is what sets us apart from other animals.

The pity is that very few people make the decision to change and pay the price to carry it through. Although every one of us is capable of it.

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The Magic of 3 Weeks. Most people have a few bad habits that don't always serve them or help them achieve and everyone knows how difficult it is to change. Ian has outlined a simple and effective way to replace bad habits with good success habits which will help those that follow it achieve their goals. - Chris Williams

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