Are you a professional?
Notice how the questions differs from, "Do you have a profession?"
To enter a profession, you invested an enormous amount of time, energy and money. Then you put great effort into earning the respect of clients and colleagues. Now you continually sharpen and update your professional skills.
Your profession has become a major part of your identity. Your profession is a key source -- maybe even the main source -- of meaning and purpose in your life. You feel good when others affirm your professional status and skills.
Your professional role is so woven into the fiber of your being that your don't merely HAVE a profession. You ARE a professional.
All well and good.
Your professional identity can bolster your integrity when you're facing difficult clients or temptations to cut corners. You can take pride in the high standards you set for yourself.
At the same time, your professional identity is only one part of you.
Overwork can unduly inflate the "professional" part of your ID equation. In Work to Live (The Berkley Publishing Group, 2003), author Joe Robinson notes that a job can become "the tail that wags the dog."
When that happens, "you're conditioned to feel as good, or as bad, as your latest performance, your worth always hanging in the balance," Robinson writes. "You have to prove yourself all over again with every task."
Much better if YOU call the tune.
A more resilient identity rests on the full range of who you are: devoted spouse, enthusiastic cook, avid reader, attentive mother, fearsome karate student, passionate gardener, loyal friend, seeker of spiritual truth.
Children are another reason to keep your professional identity from ballooning out of proportion. For one thing, you kids probably couldn't care less about it (though they enjoy the material perks that come with it). For another, attachment to the "strokes" your profession gets you can keep you stuck in work that doesn't work.
Learning to wear your professional identity more lightly is a shift that takes time, patience and a clear intention. You might want to set aside a few moments to reaquaint yourself with your non-professional values, goals and passions. Family members and friends can help you add to your list.
Robinson suggests creating a business card for your non-job identity, with a title related to your personality or a hobby, e.g., "Soulful Gourmet." Robinson recommends pulling out the card often "as a reminder of your real business: to partake in as much of this planet as you can while you can."
The reward is a world of fresh possibilities.
You are much, much bigger than the professional in you.
(c) 2004 Norma Schmidt, Coach, LLC
P.S. If you like the non-professional business card idea, you can choose from a variety of templates for free cards at www.vistaprint.com.
Norma Schmidt, Coach, LLC, specializes in helping working mothers create balance. She offers workshops, teleclasses and individual and group coaching. She also publishes "The Balance Point," a free e-mail newsletter. Visit http://www.normaschmidt.com to learn more.
recurring cleaning service Mundelein ..As a parent, you can learn a lot about your... Read More
This article on parenting is by a practicing relationship counsellor/therapist,... Read More
Home, home on the range, Where never is heard A... Read More
More and more parents are expressing their concerns about how... Read More
If you're looking for toys that are both fun to... Read More
Dear Sir, It was with some interest that I read... Read More
The 'phone conversation had nothing at all to do with... Read More
Teens don't learn responsibility overnight. If you haven't been working... Read More
Everyone in a private practice setting who works with children... Read More
Parents, do you have children who do poorly in school,... Read More
The successful preschool idea behind many successful preschool learning centers... Read More
I hear from many parents that their child is stressed... Read More
Question 1 "How do I get more time to play?"... Read More
What's new and effective in the treatment of Attention problems?... Read More
Successful families don't just happen. They take time, talent and... Read More
Many parents seem to be more than a little confused... Read More
Ever feel like you're out of the loop when it... Read More
You are at the grocery store with your daughter and... Read More
There's a new trend for party entertainment. It seems as... Read More
Salon visits can be scary experiences for small children: They... Read More
There are many reasons for treating your twins as individuals... Read More
Just a couple of years ago Annie helped her parents... Read More
Last night Tom's daughter, Sue, came out of her room... Read More
What do you do when your child begins talking to... Read More
Thank you for all that you do in the classroom!... Read More
tidy up service Buffalo Grove .."I could have helped you if I would have known,... Read More
There are a few points about shyness in children which... Read More
I remember watching my 18-month-old son eat a big frosted... Read More
Self esteem in an important quality for all children to... Read More
Nail biting in all its various forms is problematic... Read More
In the first premise, some films and video tapes which... Read More
The learning and development of Australian kids is under threat... Read More
Is your babysitter watching the kids and your k9 family... Read More
Home schooling. What is it? What does it mean to... Read More
"In general my children refuse to eat anything that hasn't... Read More
Having a high level of emotional intelligence in your children... Read More
"Becoming a parent can make you a better worker," New... Read More
The wonderful adaptability of children in dealing with the challenges... Read More
Does your child pout, blame and brood? Does he gripe,... Read More
"Money is tight, and my husband's obsessed with doing everything... Read More
Most day cares are non-profit organizations that must operate within... Read More
LOS ANGELES (May 19, 2005) - With Memorial Day weekend,... Read More
With the beginning of the new school year coming VERY... Read More
Q. How do we decide what our teens should be... Read More
Many families today are blending members from past relationships. It... Read More
In the last 20 years we've all been introduced to... Read More
Yesterday my husband Wade took the day off (that's one... Read More
Everyone in a private practice setting who works with children... Read More
Here's some of the bad news about sedentary lifestyles:? Forty... Read More
I remember when my daughter was born. Visions of her... Read More
Parenting |