“We are all hard-wired to be seeking a sense of happiness and the desire to flourish, and to be the best we can be.”
Raj Raghunathan
Author of If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy?
You are not your title.
From a young age, no matter how you are raised or where you are from, we have all been asked at some point, “What do you want to be when you grow up.” For those who may ask this question, it is a question aimed to imagine a bright and prosperous future. As we age, the question becomes, “What job do you plan to get?” We begin to put more worth and value on titles – biochemical researcher, history teacher, retail manager, financial analyst, to name a few. Titles are a tangible outcome, an imaginable future. But focussing too much on titles can deter our achieving.
In high school and college or in the workplace, students and young professionals are pressured to perfect and articulate themselves on paper. On a resume, we tell who we are and what jobs we have worked in the past. But, like a title, not everything can be communicated in a resume – namely, our unique worth as a worker or thinker. That’s why it is important to identify for yourself your unique assets, not just titles you wish to hold or where and how you have worked in the past.
Achieving should be well-rounded.
As we strive to reach our dreams or manifest our life goals, often we can be lost on our journey to happiness as well. Your success should be well-rounded – not only professional but personal too. Studies around happiness show us that being well-educated and well-paid are just a portion of what many consider wholesome fulfillment in life. Also noted as important are meaningful relationships and the freedom to achieve goals.
With these frames of mind, we can ask ourselves if seeking titles and perfecting our resume truly help us to take action towards well-rounded success in life. Many who study life achievement with relation to work, say that it is not the title but the craft itself that gives fulfillment.