How are you answering the question, “What do you do?” Are you leading with WHAT you do – your job title or profession – instead of WHY you do it? What are your purpose and values?
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Mentioned on Ep 010: Stop Defining Who you are by your Job Title // Lead with your Why & Purpose
Welcome back to The Burnout Doctor Podcast with your host, Dr. Jessica Louie. Today on episode 10, we are discussing how to stop defining yourself by your job title.
Don’t let your career or job title define who you are. You are more than those things and losing sight of that and your individual vision can lead to identity crisis and burnout later on. There is a very big difference of GIVING your best and trying to BE the BEST.
When was the last time you introduced yourself to someone new?
What was the first question she or he asked you? – for many of us, it was probably what do you do? The prime word in that question is “what”. Did you answer with your job title? Or career/profession?
Take 10 seconds to think about this, now I’m talk about why this may be a problem and how I this also lead me down a dark path and burnout. Unfortunately, this is simply the tangible examples of something deeper- a job title. But it’s easy
We know WHAT we do
But is that enough?
To distinguish ourselves, we explain HOW we do what we do – maybe particular experiences, skill sets or who we know – attempting to stand out from the crowd. The problem with starting with WHAT and HOW we do things – it rarely gets us the results we want. And then what happens? We start down this comparison hole – we may become obsessed with our competition or worry ourselves over what we lack (that extra degree or certification, enough work experience).
What happens from this? We begin to tie our happiness to WHAT and HOW we do things. How we compare to others. To the outside world.
The result?
We feel unstable. We don’t act or feel our best.
How do we flip this and shift our mindset and talk from WHAT we do to WHY we do things and WHO we are as people?
We clearly state our WHY, purpose and believes.
Our why is not about making money or stating our job title. Making money is simply a result of our WHY and purpose. Our WHY, purpose and believes inspire us to take action that brings us fulfillment and lasting happiness.
When we are clear on our WHY we can filter opportunities through it. This allows us to make decisions that ALIGN with our WHY and values. It allows us to thrive and let go of what will hold us back and not align with our core values.
We all want to thrive instead of survive, right?
WHAT do you do? I always led with I’m a pharmacist. I’m a critical care pharmacist. Of course some people don’t know what critical care is so then I’d rephrase to I’m an intensive care unit ICU pharmacist in a hospital. I’m an assistant professor. I teach.
And what happened?
ALL I COULD THINK ABOUT WAS MY JOB. MY TITLE. How I was measuring up to those words. Did I get enough degrees, certifications, letters after my name. Was I publishing as a professor.
My LIFE became my JOB TITLE. Because I perceived that was ALL people cared about.
They asked the What do you do question. You answered. They put you into a box based on it. Based on their opinion or knowledge of your profession. And then I became angry about the lack of knowledge about the pharmacist profession. The disrespect from other healthcare professionals.
Can you see where I’m going here? This led to cynicism, the first component of burnout.
And what else happened. I continually strived to BE THE BEST instead of giving my best. I became competitive over WHAT I do rather than WHY I did it.
This also happened as I started my first online business – petite fashion blogging and social media focused on Instagram. It turned into a WHAT I do rather than the WHY behind it.
The purpose was to inspire and empower women to feel confident in their outfit choices with an emphasis on quality > quantity and capsule wardrobes.
How did I finally change this?
First, I sought out expert advice, read lots of books and decided to sit down and write out my values, my purpose and my life goals. I realized my WHY and purpose is something I cannot fully accomplish. Its like a pair of shoes I’ll grow into
Now I call this my Clarify Step of my Clarify Simplify Align framework
Yes, it can be uncomfortable or overwhelming at first to do this.
But putting in a few hours to gain clarity, revisit it a week later and refine it over time as you ask trusted people in your life their thoughts you’ll be grateful for this step.
The end result, I’m able to make decisions easier. I filter an opportunity and decision through my WHY statement and values and see if it aligns.
I wake up every day inspired to….
My WHY/Purpose: to help people find confidence to live intentionally so that we create meaningful contributions to the world
How do you do that?
My HOW/Values:
- Make it simple
- Push the boundaries
- Navigate the path
- Challenge others to raise the bar
- Connect with people
Jessica’s WHAT(s)
- Burnout Coach
- Declutter Coach
- Critical Care Pharmacist
- Professor
- Certified KonMari Consultant
- Entrepreneur
I also have seen this in my clients. Many of them are healthcare professionals or pharmacists. Let me use one woman pharmacist in her 30s. She came to me overwhelmed, stressed about how busy she was and how she was looking to change jobs to free up time to be at home with her 2 children. She wanted clarity and help resetting pharmacist burnout.
What was one of the biggest challenges holding her back from going after the job she wanted?
Her current job title. She didn’t feel qualified. She never held this job title. And she defined her life from her success or failures as this type of pharmacist. Boxing herself in. Letting her title define her life.
What happened after we walked through the clarifying step together and she completed 1:1 coaching with me?
She didn’t let her current or previous title define her. She demonstrated how her core values and WHY was lived out day after day. And she demonstrated HOW she lived this through her skills – also known as transferrable skills.
What else happened? She stopped living in chaos, running everywhere, going to every healthcare meeting/workshop, every party, invite and after-school activity. She un-busied herself because she now made decisions based on her purpose and values.
Recap: today we talked about:
- How to stop defining who you are by your job title – stop letting your job title define you
- Shift our mindset to WHY we do what we do
- How to craft your WHY and purpose statements to take action today. We are more than WHAT we do, let’s lead from our WHY.
- Stop career identity crisis and learn why this can lead to burnout
- Don’t let your career or job title define who you are. You are more than those things and losing sight of that and your individual vision can lead to identity crisis and burnout later on
- Very big difference of GIVING your best and trying to BE the BEST
- Books
- Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Find your Why
- Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
- Grit by Angela Duckworth
- TAKE ACTION STEP: Everyone ends up somewhere, but few end up somewhere on purpose.
- Let’s curate the life you love with intention.
- Take 15 minutes. Write down this statement:
- I wake up inspired to _____so that _____.
- Now brainstorm verbs to fill into this first blank statement. The second blank is the impact or legacy you’ll have on this world. This will become your answer to the What do you do question? Which will then lead into more discussion.
- Now, send me this statement via email or message me on LinkedIn or Instagram.
- I’m here to hold you accountable to this action.
Until next time, spark joy my friends!
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Note, my views are my own and are not associated or representative of my employer(s).
This podcast is for educational purposes only and not medical advice.
All KonMari Method Resources and Topic discussions:
- KonMari with Children // How to Go Back to School
- KonMari Before and After Photos
- Financial Well-Being Starter Kit
- How the KonMari Method goes beyond Tidying Up
- How to apply the KonMari Method to your Health
- 7 Common KonMari Mistakes, Misconceptions and Missteps
- How to get started if you quit the KonMari Method?
- Clear the Clutter Starter Kit
- What is the KonMari Method?
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