What parts of me have never met before?
What parts of me have never met? This is a truly beautiful question. We often build different personas in our lives. We may have our work persona where we behave quite differently to how we might behave in our personal lives. In other situations we may be frightened to be who we truly are, for fear of rejection or failure.
It can feel comfortable at first, to inhabit a specific persona for a certain set of circumstances, and may even allow us the opportunity to test new skills and behaviours. But over time this behaviour risks becoming dissociative. Without realising it, we may find our core values compromised as we struggle to accommodate the different demands of these personas.
The invitation in this beautiful question is to explore a more integrated and grounded life, one where we accept who we are and allow ourselves to be fully present at all times.
For me this meant bringing some of the creativity I embrace in my personal life into the work environment. It also meant bringing some of my work discipline into my personal life, for instance a more regular commitment to learning and practicing the acoustic guitar, as well as a more formal commitment to the social causes that I support.
As I began to explore this further, it felt more and more comfortable to simply be me, and to do away with these different personas. I started to remove these different compartments and lead a far simpler, more integrated approach to life in general. My work became more fun, my guitar playing more enjoyable. This approach also allowed me to apply my core values more fully and consistently in every aspect of my life.
Through this process, the opportunity emerges to shed some old assumptions, and to initiate a more authentic version of ourselves. We can make our life a more creative expression of what matters most on a consistent basis.
Of course, there exists an inherent degree of vulnerability in all this. A willingness to accept ourselves for who we are, and to embrace it. Sometimes the hardest thing to be is ourselves.
So I ask you: what parts of you have never met before?
I help storytellers create authentic narratives & test their audience | Founder @Afrogameuses | Partnerships Director @Black In Gaming | VP @Furax
6 年Beautiful article, and I think it also applies to young professionals at the begining of their career. It's hard enough to find yourself in your personal life and to stay true to who you are, especially if we add that to the working environment. As to your question, I'll try to think about what parts of me have never met :)
Executive Leadership expert and Advisor, VR and AR enthusiast, Podcast host on The Leadership Diet, Founding Partner at The Leadership Context, Author and Business School Lecturer
6 年Nicely put Stephen! And how is the guitar coming on?
CPO, Atturra
6 年It is indeed a beautiful question Stephen and one I have been considering since our chat a few short weeks ago!