What You Do Is Not Who You Are

Your value is intrinsic to your being.

I’m so tired of the titles, rankings and salary structures that exist within work environments today. It’s a structure setup to devalue individual worth. It’s unfortunate that our society is setup to directly equate what you do, the title you hold and how much you earn to the value you hold as an individual. Titles and money have come to equal power and respect, despite the fact that not everyone who holds the titles or makes the money deserves the respect.

Upon meeting someone new the introduction starts with exchanging names. The question or topic that soon follows is attached to what each person does for a living. Neither names nor what is done for a living says anything about the actual person. I personally cringe each time someone introduces me and proudly shares that I’m an engineer or that I have an engineering degree. The degree says absolutely nothing about the internal me — the degree and me are not one in the same. My degree is not an indication of what I love doing nor is it indicative of the value I hold as a person. I could be “Candra, a homeless person living out of my car,” which by the way I have been, and it won’t change who I am as a person or the value I hold. It may change the way I’m perceived, but external perception doesn’t have to resonate internally. Perception does not equal reality.

It’s a screwed up way we’ve come to define each other. Unfortunately, this value calculation is implanted in us at childhood and it plagues us as we grow. If we’re not careful it becomes a weight that we lug around throughout our adult lives.

Who you are is NOT defined by what you do, the title you hold or what you have.

That statement is so important that I need to share it again.
Who you are is NOT defined by what you do, the title you hold or what you have.

If you use these items as a barometer for your worth you will never fully measure up; there will always be another level, a higher title or more money/possessions to obtain. You can have all the external knowledge in the world and still be knowledge deprived internally. You can logically know all there is to know and still know none of what you need to know to joyfully, lovingly and effectively navigate life.

Your value isn’t externally acquired, it’s internally accessed.

Candra Adia writes daily musings on the perfect imperfections of life here in Soul Connected. Receive one every morning to read as you start your day by clicking here to subscribe.