Imagine for a moment that you are at a party and you are chatting to someone who you’ve only just met. After discussing the decorations and the food, they pause and ask, “So, what do you do?”
When faced with the question, “What do you do?” most people automatically respond by stating their 9 to 5 occupation.
The problem with this response is that it immediately defines you in terms of your job and places you in a pigeon hole that is often filled with stereo types associated with your profession.
For example, Claire is a receptionist who is working at a doctor’s surgery, however, her real passion in life is painting. When she is not working, she spends every spare moment surrounded by her canvases and paints.
For a long time, whenever someone asked “So Claire, what do you do?”, Claire’s response was, “Oh, I’m a medical receptionist.”
Almost inevitably, the person she was speaking to then asked about what it was like to work in a doctor’s surgery.
Then one day Claire made a decision.
She decided that she was no longer going to define herself as a ‘medical receptionist’ who enjoyed painting in her spare time. Instead, she was going to define herself as a ‘painter’ who was currently working at a doctor’s surgery in order to pay her bills.
This simple decision had a big impact on Claire’s sense of personal identity. She realized that it was important to tell people who she really was rather than automatically reciting her job title.
A few weeks later, Claire was at a friend’s housewarming party. As she stood by the fire with a glass in hand, she met a guy named Matt who asked her, “So Claire, what do you do?”
Claire responded by saying, “At the moment I’m working at a doctors’ surgery but what I’m really passionate about is painting.”
As soon as she said these words, Claire realized that this was exactly what she was looking for. It was a completely honest statement but did not place her into the ‘medical receptionist’ pigeon hole.
Instead, it conveyed a sense of who she really was and opened up multiple options for conversation.
To Claire’s delight, Matt asked her about her painting and they had a really interesting conversation. Matt was a web designer and he told Claire that a lot of artists were now selling their work directly to customers over the Internet rather than dealing with galleries.
This was a revelation to Claire who had never really heard of Internet business before.
As she was driving home from the party, Claire realized that her new sense of identity was already having an impact on her life. Instead of talking about being a medical receptionist, she was now discussing her painting with others and discovering new opportunities to explore.
Today I’d like to encourage you to think about the question, “What do you do?” and make the decision to no longer be automatically defined by your occupation title.
Instead, develop a response that is honest, reveals who you really are and opens up multiple avenues for conversation.
You’ll be amazed by how many doors this simple technique will open for you.
When faced with the question, “What do you do?” most people automatically respond by stating their 9 to 5 occupation.
The problem with this response is that it immediately defines you in terms of your job and places you in a pigeon hole that is often filled with stereo types associated with your profession.
For example, Claire is a receptionist who is working at a doctor’s surgery, however, her real passion in life is painting. When she is not working, she spends every spare moment surrounded by her canvases and paints.
For a long time, whenever someone asked “So Claire, what do you do?”, Claire’s response was, “Oh, I’m a medical receptionist.”
Almost inevitably, the person she was speaking to then asked about what it was like to work in a doctor’s surgery.
Then one day Claire made a decision.
She decided that she was no longer going to define herself as a ‘medical receptionist’ who enjoyed painting in her spare time. Instead, she was going to define herself as a ‘painter’ who was currently working at a doctor’s surgery in order to pay her bills.
This simple decision had a big impact on Claire’s sense of personal identity. She realized that it was important to tell people who she really was rather than automatically reciting her job title.
A few weeks later, Claire was at a friend’s housewarming party. As she stood by the fire with a glass in hand, she met a guy named Matt who asked her, “So Claire, what do you do?”
Claire responded by saying, “At the moment I’m working at a doctors’ surgery but what I’m really passionate about is painting.”
As soon as she said these words, Claire realized that this was exactly what she was looking for. It was a completely honest statement but did not place her into the ‘medical receptionist’ pigeon hole.
Instead, it conveyed a sense of who she really was and opened up multiple options for conversation.
To Claire’s delight, Matt asked her about her painting and they had a really interesting conversation. Matt was a web designer and he told Claire that a lot of artists were now selling their work directly to customers over the Internet rather than dealing with galleries.
This was a revelation to Claire who had never really heard of Internet business before.
As she was driving home from the party, Claire realized that her new sense of identity was already having an impact on her life. Instead of talking about being a medical receptionist, she was now discussing her painting with others and discovering new opportunities to explore.
Today I’d like to encourage you to think about the question, “What do you do?” and make the decision to no longer be automatically defined by your occupation title.
Instead, develop a response that is honest, reveals who you really are and opens up multiple avenues for conversation.
You’ll be amazed by how many doors this simple technique will open for you.
