What's Your Identity Based On?

IDENTITY EGGS IN ONE BASKET?

 

 When you face a major change in your life—retirement, losing your job, your kids leaving for college, or an unexpected accident—you quickly discover that a large part of your identity was invested in something or someone that is no longer there. Who are you now without the former activities and relationships?

You, or who you thought you were, must change to fit into a new world, a new job, and an entirely new daily scheduled.

Beware of what follows “I am” because that’s where you place your identity and limit your sense of self. Keep your identity eggs—like your investments—in several baskets, never in just one. You could say that the only thing that needs to follow "I am" is a period; as in "I am." "I am here; I exist and I refuse to be defined by a limited identity."

To be resilient during the inevitable changes of life, your identity must be more than your job title, your roles in the lives of others, and much more than who you think you are.

            What do you need to know about maintaining a robust, resilient identity? _______________

            Which baskets are holding your identity eggs?    ____________________________________

            What will you do today to find and expand a new aspect of your larger sense of self? ______

©2012 Neil Fiore, PhD  www.neilfiore.com www.neilfiore.com/coach.shtml