Work is Personal

People always say things like “I don’t mix my personal life with my work life.” I think there is a fundamental problem with this way of thinking.

Work is intensely personal. What one chooses to do for a living is part of what defines them. Whether I am a  waitress at a greasy spoon diner or the CEO of Microsoft, there is a fine line between what I do and what I am.

What one does for a living drives everything from social circles, living arrangements, to an entire lifestyle.

I don’t normally ask people what their job is. I ask them what they do. It’s a much more thought provoking question. “I’m a call centre manager”, one person might say, if I ask what their job is. If I ask what they do, though, they may answer, “I work with a bunch of people that help other people solve their problems with technology.” Now, isn’t that much more interesting?

I am a creator, a storyteller.  I make ideas happen. That’s what I do.

What do you do?

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3 Comments

  • March 15, 2007 at 11:01 pm

    I *am* what I do. I mix my personal life and work life because they’re the same thing finally. What I do is create rockstars. Not the kind you watch on MTV4 or wherever music videos are played now (I watch mine on Yahoo! Music Videos).

    What do I do? I connect passion to people, people to people, and passionate people to projects.

    I’m a plumber.

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  • March 16, 2007 at 12:19 pm

    I write. I edit. I organize information. I analyze types of information. I present information in various formats, virtual and hardcopy. All this to communicate messages for me and for others. My day job gives me cash and structure. My passion gives me fuel…fuels me to write more, sing more, communicate more.

    I’m an interaction waiting to happen on paper, online, in song.

    REPLY
  • March 17, 2007 at 3:10 pm

    You are what you eat – but even more, you are what you do. Our work, our passions define us.

    Who am I? In real life, I arrange summits, getting people together with the same business backgrounds and goals. In ‘personal’ life, I am a jewellry designer, and the passion and joy I feel, the mystique of living, is poured out in my creations.

    Who am I – a very fortunate person who has several loves, and enjoys savoring them all in their own time!

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