Who are you?
Let me put it this one if someone were to ask you right now who you are, what would you say?
Now, before you start the answer, go back to the question for a second. (Notice that it says WHO you are—not WHAT you do.)
If your instinct was to answer with your job title (i.e., entrepreneur) or family title (i.e., mother), you’re not alone. I used to do it all of the time.
This changed when someone once asked me about myself in a way I hadn’t heard before. They didn't ask what I did for a living, how many kids I had, or how long I had been with my partner. Instead, they asked me who I was—in my soul.
Wow, right?! Consider how different the answer is when you rephrase the question?!.
After all, what is underneath all the labels, roles, and titles that you instinctively answer with? Sure, you do a handful of things, but even all of those things put together don’t tell the story of who you truly are.
When I ask my clients this question, many tell me they have to sleep on it because they don’t know. Many women I’ve worked with have spent more time in the roles they’ve played than embodying the role of their inner being.
And when I say "inner being," I mean your core and your inner you—the one that comes home after a long day of work or goes to bed after tucking the kids away or jams out to 80s music alone in the car in the pouring rain.
You might have some moments or quirks of your own coming to mind, but I want to take this self-exploration a step further. If you’re still not quite sure how you would describe yourself, I challenge you to consider what your loved ones would say about you.
What about your co-workers? Your last Uber driver? The barista who hands you your coffee? The people you pass on the street? Your favorite teacher from childhood? From the ones who know you real close and the ones who know you only from afar, how would they all describe you?
Does this question feel easier to answer than from your point of view? (If it’s not easier, that’s okay too.) About three years ago, I would’ve probably said people would describe me as unhappy, confused, sad, depressed, angry, and reactionary.
Why? Because that’s how I saw myself, and it felt too heavy to say I thought those things about myself. But now? Oh boy, ask me now—after some serious deep diving—and it’s a whole different story.
Today, I am compassionate, pure love, and brimming with potential.
I come with a lot of sass, the mouth of a sailor, and I’m funny as hell.
I’m also not afraid to be wrong, and I’m a forever student—at the same time as being a teacher for women around the world looking to get to know their inner self more.
I am many things, and they impact how I show up in my daily life and the energy I give off to those I interact with on small and big levels.
What about you? How you are showing up in your day-to-day life? What impression are you leaving on the people you love and the people you briefly connect with? These are questions we often don’t ask ourselves enough, but we should. Because each day the impact you make impacts the legacy you leave behind.
Each day adds a layer to the story you’ll leave on the hearts and minds of the people who knew you. And I wonder, are you allowing the goodness of you to be the thing that people remember the most? Are you seeing yourself the way you’d like the be described and letting it bleed into all the areas of your life?
And, what if, the next time you are asked who you are, you introduce yourself as who you really are instead of saying what you do? This is the value of knowing yourself. It’s knowing who you are, what is at your core, and knowing what others receive from you.
Knowing who you are means you allow the WHO of you to be the first thing people identify with.
Your legacy depends on you getting clear with yourself in this deep way. With this clarity, you can begin to embody your truest you and own who you are, so that the rest of the world can get to know you too.
And if you want to do the inner work and self-reflection, then you are cordially invited to join us for our free event on February 24 to learn more about how you can shift your inner WHO.