The Living of Life Outside Your Profession and Work

So many people are defined by what they do for a living, and some think it’s the only thing they’re good at! For example, if you’re a construction worker, when someone asks what you do, do you say, “I’m a construction worker and I build things”? If you’re a real estate agent, when someone asks what you do, do you say, “I sell houses, know someone who’s buying or selling?” I’m confident you’ve heard this before… Or better yet, maybe this sounds like you?!

If the conversation in your head is primarily about work and when you finally get home, that’s when the “other part of your life takes over…” What a disempowering conversation to have in your head, let alone out loud with other people. By the way, I’m not beating you up or saying you’re wrong for saying these things, I’m bringing it up because I want you to start exploring a different question.

Before I started asking myself this question I would always reply with, “I fix computers,” and most people would say, “Ohhh, cool,” then they’d move on. When I started thinking about my response to one of the most common questions I get asked, “What do you do?” it took me on a journey to finally answer this question with a little more profound meaning. You see, the question itself is flawed. Can you see it? What do you “do?” Are you ready for my version of this question yet? Okay okay, just a little more then I’ll reveal the question… 😊

After nearly a year of exploring “what I do,” I started answering with, “I fix peoples’ most ailing problems.” Not badddddd. Can you see how much more engaging the answer is? It’s open ended and invites a bit of explanation and sharing of my stories for people to really get it. The question I asked myself over and over was, “Who am I, really? Like, really really, who am I?” This was way too conceptual so I quickly gave up on that question. BUT, by asking myself that question, I came up with a better question! You’ve been so patient with me. Are you ready?!

“What do I bring to people because of my actions, my way of thinking, my way of being, my energy? What do I provide to people that if I weren’t in their lives, they wouldn’t have?” Oooooo, now we’re starting to hit on questions that really feel alive! Questions that bring forth the reason I wake up in the morning, put it into words, and express it with the energy of a large coffee with three shots of espresso in it. (Which, by the way, is one of my favorite coffee drinks.) So here’s my answer meow: “I change people’s lives.” I change peoples lives! And it just so happens that what I “do” professionally is fix computers and set up business’ technology to start working for them with ease and velocity. That gives them the confidence and reassurance they need to focus on their core business and not their technology when they hire my company. Now how about that for a conversation starter?

Want to know something else I do for a living that changes lives? I jump out of, yea yea, “perfectly good airplanes.” Some of the planes I’ve been on are held together with duct tape and there’s nothing perfect about them. I feel safer jumping out… So, here’s the thing, whatever, and I mean WHATEVER it is that I do, I change peoples’ lives simply because I’m in them. Check out this poem by George Bernard Shaw that I live by: www.adamdellos.com/torch.

Don’t worry about how small or big your answer is to the questions above, write it down. Have fun with it, play around with it (that’s what she said?), rearrange it, mess it up, whatever TRY IT! Don’t lie to yourself, be as genuine as you know how to be and answer the questions, “What do I bring to people because of my actions, my way of thinking, my way of being, my energy? What do I provide to people that if I weren’t in their lives, they wouldn’t have?”

Once you’ve answered those questions, please share your answers with me, I’d love to hear them. If you think this is stupid, then uhhhh, imagine it was written by the person you hate most and yea, they wrote it, not me. If you have questions or would like to work through the questions with me, I’m here! I may not get back to you right away, but I promise I will get back to you. Love ya, you beautiful person that is reading my inner dialogue that is in writing meow.