Fresh Start Monday #048: Shifting your identity
“In order to be who you are, you must be willing to let go of who you think you are." - Michael Singer
Over the weekend, I went on an overnight backpacking trip.
While hiking, I had this nagging feeling that I forgot a piece of gear. But I couldn't figure out what it was. On my drive home, I reflected on the gear that seemingly never made it on the trip.
It was the first outdoor trip in years that I've taken without my professional camera.
When I first started taking photography seriously, bringing a large and heavy camera felt like a luxury. It was an extra 5 lbs of gear.
Over time, it became an essential piece of gear. An essential part of who I was. Of how I experienced the outdoors. A piece of gear that taught me presence, color, and light.
Why didn't I bring it?
I've been doing a lot of career coaching with clients relating to career exploration. In discussing your ideal role, something we consider is what percentage of a certain skill/responsibility do you want in the role.
For example, let’s say you want to use data analysis in your role. For someone who wants their role to be 60% data analysis, then they might consider a path in data science or as a data analyst. However, if the answer is 10%, then the role looks completely different.
When I thought about photography and the role it'll play in my life moving forward, I realized it's a shrinking percentage. When I was traveling, I had a camera over my shoulder every day for several months. I took hundreds of pictures every day. But that was a while ago.
It’s similar to a very common identity that I see clients cling to: Continuing to look for work similar to the degree they received.
Photography was more of a hobby for me, and I'd like photography to have a place in what I do moving forward, but I don't see how at the moment. When we seek to lean into certain areas of our life, sometimes subtraction comes first.
I was a little sad thinking about my camera in its backpack in my closet. I want to give it a good life. At the same time, it felt good to let go of something that no longer holds the same spark for me.
Journal prompts
When it comes to shifting your identity, we need to bring more awareness to what you're leaving behind. Identities come in many forms and sizes.
It's easy to define yourself based on what happened to you in the past.
You received a few bad test scores in a math class in the 2nd grade, and you're still telling everybody you're not a math person 27 years later.
Or you're an aspiring actress but haven't done an audition in two years.
Or you've built an identity of being an academic, but are now in a professional work setting.
To bring awareness:
How did an old identity first form for you?
How did holding this identity help you in the past?
How does an old identity still cling to you?
What's hard about letting go of this identity?
Local to Boulder, CO?
Join me this Wednesday (8/2) on Meetup to reflect on shifting your identity with other like-minded people in their 20s and 30s.
Realizations at Realization Point
Wednesday, August 2nd at 6pm MT at Artist Point parking lot