Meet somebody new at a networking or social event, and these are the questions you are likely to get, right? No one asks: “Who are you?”
Some time ago, I met with a real estate agent with the intention of making an offer on a commercial property. After exchanging pleasantries, he asked me: Who is [my name]?
I already introduced myself, so I paused for a moment, searching for an answer, no doubt with a perplexed look on my face. Then it hit me, he’s not interested in what I do, he’s interested in what I will be bringing to the neighbourhood. In other words, the product or service my business will be offering or the problems I solve. So often our whole identity is locked up in what we do, our role, job title, and if that gets shaken, we lose who we are or who we, through conditioning, thought we were.
When we consider who we are, we sometimes default to the negative in comparing ourselves with others: “I’m not good with math”, or “I can’t sing that well.”, skipping over the good, the great, the gold.
Say “I’m a self-starter” or “I’m a problem solver” if you lost your job when a company closed, or “I’m good at managing conflict” or “I’m a strategic thinker”, if you experienced poor office culture, etc. Both experiences you may wish you did not have, but from which you can draw the good so you can bring it to where you are going.
You are not defined by what you do, you are defined by what you bring to what you do. You are like a rich tapestry, woven together with of all your skills, gifting, experiences, knowledge, faith, background and upbringing.
Even from a bad experience, good can be drawn from. Have you experienced a serious health issue, been exposed to homelessness or addiction? Well, how can you draw from the reality of that experience to help others, to emphasise with them, to find a solution that brings change by combining the reality of that experience with everything else that you bring?
God brought things to life by saying what they are “Let there be light.” Before saying what they do: “God called the light “day””. You are made in His image, and the same creative power is in you to speak light and therefore bring light, to darkness. Take a pen right now and write down who you are, what you bring and who God says you are. What is your tapestry made of and where is the gold in your story? Find your good, your great, your gold, and build on that. The next time someone ask you what you do, respond by saying what you bring to what you do, you may just unlock a door for the very thing they were seeking.