Tip No. 210
Q. I am between jobs right now, and I don’t know what to say to people when they ask questions about what I do. I feel like I’m not whole if I can’t say “I’m working as…. Is this normal?
A. We do not have to BE what we DO. We are often asked about our profession with this question, “what do you do”? How do we usually respond? Often, by saying “I am…” This language tells us how we think about what we do. Consciously or not, we equate our job with WHO we are, as if it were a permanent part of our identity. This attitude adds a measure of distress when we are out of work. We often mistakenly believe that without a certain job, we have no identity. Don’t allow that kind of thinking to burden you even more. You work in a profession, but you are not the sum total of the profession.
CMI Career Management International
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