What you do does not define who you are as a person. There’s so much that goes missing from our lives simply because we sometimes become so engrossed with our duties at work that our emotional duties towards us and our loved ones take a back seat. All of that directly affects our work-life balance.
Why shouldn’t your job become your identity?
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Existential crisis:
If the significant hours of your day, and sooner in that journey, most of the days of your life are spent working for that high-pressure job, the very question – “Who do you think you are without that job?” reduces your self-worth.
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Burn-out:
If you keep thinking about your job even after your working hours are over and your physical presence somewhere else doesn’t promise your mental one, you’re apparently burning-out and need to remind yourself about your life out of your job, for which you work and not vice versa.
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Running out of hobbies:
Well, if you’re consumed with your day job and don’t quite manage to draw that line between work and life, hobbies help you there. But what if you left all your hobbies in that quest for work? You need to explore, again! More importantly, because hobbies give your life meaning when you picture yourself away from your job.
That fine line is that half an hour break to simply watch the birds chirp in your garden or to read those bookmarked pages from the book you just kept aside, or even to simply colour that canvas with thy imagination and mood. That fine line between work and life can always be drawn with things that bring satisfaction and peace to that mostly chaotic schedule. Draw that line, sip that coffee, watch the ant trying to climb up a wall. Work never carves you as a person as much as these breaks and resorts for balance do!
Author–
Bhavna Dubey | Editor-in-Chief: Telloway
Very good post about the reasons why your job shouldn’t be your identity. Highly informative and nicely written. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Cedric!
I couldn’t agree more! https://www.slicktruth.com/odd-jobs/
Thanks for visiting! Your “Odd Jobs” post was a treat to read!
So true! I would never want my job to be my whole identity. I’m so much more!
That’s the open secret, we’re so much more! That too but also a lot more than just that job❤
This is very true. I really think that “job life” and “life life” should be kept as seperate as they can be. I feel some people get too Immersed in there Jon and forget to leave that part of them at work when they come home. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for visiting, wanted to write that reminder loud and clear out here 🙂
Yes! I recently left a job that took over waaay to much of my life. It isn’t worth it!
Hey Adrienne, there’s always something better out there for you! Thanks for visiting 🙂
I can say I’ve seen how work becomes a person’s identity on my old BFF. Completely lost her identity replaced by a tax from work, needless to say that definitely ruined our relationship.
Sad that work took a toll and ruined it for both of you 🙁 That’s why making it the centre of our worlds is something we should sometimes give a thought to. Thanks for visiting!
I guess it is the one reason why it is a good idea to take something that you enjoy and turn it into a business that way you’ll always be that creative person even after you retire. For example, being a stylist can be a lot of fun.
I totally agree with you Alvern! Thanks for visiting Telloway 🙂
This is so true. I strongly believe no one thing should become your identity. Finding many things that bring us joy is so important to happiness.
Hey Hollie, that’s so true! We’ve so many little things that bring us happiness, and if work feels like one of those little things, even that’s only a part and not the entirety of who we are 🙂
I’ve realised quite recently that I need to leave some space only for myself, as work isn’t my whole life at all. Great read! I couldn’t agree more with this text! 🙂
Thanks for visiting Natalia! A pleasure that our thoughts resonate 🙂
Oh I couldn’t agree more. Thankfully, I have left the corporate world some 20 years ago and I am happy that I did freelance work.
So good to hear you’re enjoying that freelance work! 🙂
I did get burn-out several times in my previous jobs trying to please and always get the work done on time. I’ve learned my lesson and now, that I have my own business, I make sure to separate personal time from work.
“Me time” is so much important in the long run and we might even not realize that in our early years of working. Glad you visited!
Especially burn-out! This is so true!
Great read! We, of course, know about balance, but we are not always able to keep it, because this line is indeed thin and it is easy to break it.
Indeed, the line’s too thin and the balance- too important to keep. That’s for visiting Ewa 🙂
Really great tips here. Our job is a part of us, but it’s not all of us!
Glad you read and resonated with the message I had to share Lisa!