Self-Leadership: Part 2
Many describe their identity by what they do. “I am a [fill in the profession/title].” If this is your first natural response, then consider a vital truth—what you can achieve, your past success, and your current title are not your identity. What you DO is merely a vocation or hobby, but who you ARE is most significant. This is an important distinction.
If you struggle to respond with your identity (your WHO, not DO) as your primary designation, it may indicate a lack of self-awareness, a primary focus on accomplishments, or it may point to buried fear, shame, or hurt you have carried for a season. This can quickly lead to barriers in your life that limit your ability to grow, understand, and overcome them.
It is vital to be self-aware—knowing oneself, including one's traits, feelings, attitudes, limitations, and from where they stem. We then grow in self-assurance by resting in our identity and being confident in our uniqueness. While challenging circumstances may not change, we can still be grounded in our worth and personhood as a firm foundation, which will positively affect those circumstances. Are you secure in who you are? Are you aware of issues that need to be confronted?
Finally, along with knowing who we are, we need feedback and support to measure how we are doing. To do so, each of us should have a level of accountability. This is where transparency comes into play – being vulnerable with another person regarding weaknesses, struggles, and hang-ups. Becoming and remaining a high-level leader with sufficient capacity flows from one’s unveiling of and investment in “self.”
The well-being of “self” encompasses the whole person – mental, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual. Which of these areas is your strongest? Which is your weakest? A barrier in any one of these areas can affect them all.
In short, you have only one “self.” That self is worthy of investment and strengthening in all vital areas. Take time to assess where your identity lies, barriers, self-awareness, and transparency. To make progress in anything, you’ve got to put in the work to develop it. This includes developing the most important component – YOU!