Who Are You?

I have long held the belief that it is both a blessing and a curse to be able to do a lot of things. And I have noticed that women, the consummate multi-taskers, can do a lot of things. Most of the time we don’t even think about it…we just DO it. Which is, in part, why the concept of a “Superwoman” was so palatable: it was about DOING. We knew that. We lived that. 

If you’ve followed me at all, you will have heard me on my soapbox, nowfor well over a decade, trying to get women to first learn to BE themselves, then DO. It is when you take the time to figure out who you are, and then craft and live a life that takes advantage of your skills, desires, values and beliefs, that you step into your innately powerful life. 

You’d think I’d listen to myself.

Over the past year or so, I’ve been struggling to figure out where to put my energies. I can do so many things. I coach, I do corporate training, I do motivation speaking, I write books – I even do the occasional podcast or webinar. Where do I put my focus?

Sometimes it takes talking to someone else to actually hear yourself.

In a conversation with a friend, I was going over this dilemma – again. Frankly I was getting a little tired of my story. But for some reason, I heard myself with different ears this time. This time I heard myself talking about all the things I DO. But who am I?

I took some time to imagine myself in each of the many roles I play. I paid particular attention to my energy when I did that. And, what I came to discover was something that I have known since I was about 6 years old: I am a teacher. I am conduit of a message that needs to be delivered into the world. And I am very good at it. That should be no surprise– it is my BEING. 

So now, it makes sense to me. I am a teacher who does motivational talks. I am a teacher who writes inspirational books. I am a teacher who helps clients find their path. I am a teacher who gets a message across to an audience in a way they can hear and understand it. 

The blessing in being able to do many things is using who you are in many different ways. The curse is in believing that what you do is who you are. The freedom is in actually discovering that information.