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Share Yourself Through Your Career

For some of us, our careers are very personal. So personal we can’t shake them off or leave them at the doorstep when we leave for the day. People know us for our career interests, skills and abilities. Careers help us to explore who we are as people. In today’s complex world careers offer many opportunities for us to express ourselves and test our skills.

I’m not talking about the workaholic who can’t leave her work and relax. That’s a different topic.

I am talking about the person who finds something fascinating about what she does and then shares it with others, improves things, delights people, saves lives, or somehow makes our world a better place.

This past weekend I attended a series of very festive wedding events for an impressive young couple. Through the many (yes, many, many speeches) offered to the couple by their friends and family I got to know them a bit better. One thing I learned about the bride is that her friends admire her homemaking abilities. Her now husband appreciates her relentless advice on what to wear in public. Her friends say that the bride enjoys “a good tri-fold on her towels” and always makes guests feel welcome.

This gave me something to consider once the festivities ended.

Aside from enjoying cooking and having friends and family over to my house, I have very little homemaking interest or ability. In fact, watching my mother take care of 8 children on a limited budget I admit that homemaking was not on my top ten list of career options as I embarked into the world after college. Also, there is the ability issue. For instance, I often need help tying a bow properly on a gift and I honestly do not care how my towels are folded or whether a garnish is put atop a lovely piece of fish that I’m about to serve. I could easily walk out of the house without a pair of earrings or forget to check that my clothes actually match. Such considerations do not come naturally to me.

Apparently this young bride lives for these things. She enjoys the Martha Stewart approach to life. I would dare say she is driven towards making the world a better place in this way.

Wow, I thought to myself at the end of the weekend, this is not just an interest for this young woman. Neither is it frivolous (sorry, my stereotypes are showing). Rather, I believe it is part of her identity. She works for a catering service and has a delightful, effervescent personality and so that makes sense. I’ve been to her home and it’s lovely, warm, and inviting and that also makes sense. She is living her career at home and at work (not to mention all the little extras at her wedding!).

I’ll be interested to see how this young woman applies her skills in the world. Her friends and family clearly appreciate it now. If I were a betting woman I’d say the odds are very good that she’ll find a way to make a meaningful splash whether as a homemaker or as someone who brings homemaking skills to the world. Julia Child did it. Martha Stewart did too. For me, this young woman has legitimized homemaking as a career with the potential to impact lives and delight people. I love it when my stereotypes are broken! Thanks to the bride, her new husband, and her loyal friends for offering me this enlightenment.

Visit me online now for a professional chat about your career:http://www.liveperson.com/dr-anne 

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