The ability to define yourself by who you are instead of what you do is the foundation for greatness.
Jesus could have defined himself as a carpenter or a miracle worker instead of calling himself as the son of God.
Many people today define themselves by their job, roles and responsibilities.
By attaching your identity to what you do instead of the person that you are, makes it is difficult, if not impossible, for you to connect with your real self.
I can say I am a ‘pastor or a preacher’ but the reality is that this is what I do and not who I am.
LIFE DEFINITION:
Your life definition is what you exist for which, most of the times, informs what you do and the roles you play in life. This is how people see and define us. It is possible to fail at what you do and that doesn’t change who you are.
Unfortunately, most people believe that what they are doing defines their happiness, fulfilment and identity. I have been involved in various businesses; some of which failed. This doesn’t mean I failed. The business failed, not me.
The purpose of the business is to enable me to express myself. It is to enable me to add value to people and organisation and as a result, gather financial rewards to make me better at who I am.
You are not your job.
You are not your job. Many of us have been victims of societies in which we find ourselves. We have become like a Chameleon, taking on the colour of the environment and surrounding articles.
The real you is on the inside. It is waiting for recognition. It is much easier to be your real self than it is to be what the society or your family want you to be.
PURPOSE OF PARENTING
Parenting is raising and preparing your children to be able to make a connection with their real inner self, by not imposing a profession or a career path on them.
REAL LIFE VS ASSIGNED LIFE.
Assigned life is the life imposed on us by society. It is like playing a role in a movie. In movies, people are made to perform what is written in scripts. It is possible in movies to see a man with a credit rating of a homeless man acting as a bank CEO and vice versa.
Many people are not making a connection with their real life. They are just doing role-playing. They work in jobs they don’t like, they live in relationships in which they are not fulfilled and drives cars they can’t afford just to be able to appease the society. Unfortunately, some people never get to live their real life while some make the connection while it is too late.
A friend of mine was a medical doctor in a hospital. By the human standard of judgement, he was a successful man. One morning on his way to the hospital where he works, He stopped and turned his car around and drove back home.
His colleagues at the hospital were wondering why he hasn’t arrived at the clinic and they called his phone. He told them he was no longer coming to work in the hospital as a doctor.
According to him, it was never his intention to be a doctor. That was what his parent wanted him to become.
Today, this man now works as a management consultant. The firm which he founded consults for major multinational corporations across many sectors.
It takes a lot more effort to live an assigned life than it is to live your real life. Living an assigned life is like trying to keep a swimming float ring underwater or trying move up on a down escalator.
MAKING THE CONNECTION.
What would you like to do or be if money, time, backgrounds, country of origin and so on are not a barrier? What kind of life would you like to live if your current circumstances are reversed? Would you choose your current job or relationships if there were other options?
Your answer to these questions points to your real self and reveal the fact that you may not be living the real life you were meant to live. You may be currently submerged in an assigned life roles thrust on you by the society.
Today is the day you should start the process of taking your life back. The world is waiting for the manifestation of the real you.
Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and life. No man comes to the father except through me.” John 14:6.
Jesus was telling the world who he was. He was disclosing his real identity based on his personality, not by his activities.
Being able to effectively define ourselves by who we are instead of what we do, whether or not we are good at it, is the starting point in becoming great.
If you ask some people who they are today, the majority will respond by telling you what they are doing, their profession or their work title.
Start looking beyond what you are doing. You may not be the best in what you do at the moment. You may not even be producing any major result in what you are doing today; that doesn’t define you. A strong lion is in the jungle will never beat the smallest fish in swimming competition.
Apostle Peter, a fisherman, struggled all night without catching any fish. Jesus appeared and declare to him “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Mark 1:17
There is greatness in you.