Do You Let Others Define You?

Happy #GivingTuesday, Ladies! In case you didn’t know, #GivingTuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration. Celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving. (GivingTuesday.org)

Now back to today’s post.

I was perusing through Instagram yesterday, and I stumbled upon something that really spoke to me. My friend and fellow Montreal working mom, Maddy K shared the quote above, Don’t Let The World Define You, and then underneath, this text:

Good Morning Lovelies!!! I decided to share this in light of some recent conversations I’ve had recently: Conversation went something like this: “So Maddy, what is it that you do exactly??? It feels like you do so many things, but I don’t really know what you do – In a nut shell – what are you?”  This happened a few times from different people in different words, but ultimately same message. At first this shook me to the core, it bothered me, because I had a hard time defining myself – what was I??? Why was I not able to define myself with one world like most people do “I’m a doctor,”  “Im an engineer,”  “I’m a teacher,” … I was really bothered. But then I realized that the world was just trying to define me – and I did not need that!!! I did not need to define myself in one word because I was just not ONE thing and why would I need to be ONE thing? God gave me a set of skills – think of it as a toolbox we got when we were born – with this toolbox I am able to do so many things, so why stop myself and shy away from it – just because the world says you have to be ONE THING?! My passions are so many things, and I am so blessed that I have designed a life that allows me to live out and work with every day passionately! So I made list of all things that I am and this list will grow as I wish, because I make my own rules and am the designer of my own life (with God of course): I’m a Wedding Planner, Event Planner, Event Designer, Bridal show producer, Speaker, Brand Strategist, Encourager, Business Coach, Entrepreneur and the list goes on… I hope you enjoy my journey, and if you have a hard time understanding exactly what I do, that’s ok, because what defines me is not what I do – but who I am!!!!”

These words REALLY spoke to me, and perhaps they speak to you too. To confess, I ALWAYS get this same question, and I too wrestle with defining myself. Can you imagine, I touch business, startup, life coaching, parenting, lifestyle, and now even FASHION with HADRY. It’s like, who the hell am I? I always used to say to my husband, I just wish I was Suzie Orman. “What,” he would answer? What I mean is, Suzie IS finance, and everything about her and her brand is finance. The lines are clear. If you are a new reader, then you might not know that I dabble in many areas, and I honestly wrestle with my own definition or title. My insecurities lie in: How can I really be knowledgable in so many different unrelated areas? I clearly can only know a little bit in my different roles. It’s my tickled area…

But yet I know so many women who do totally unrelated things, and do them all so well. Can we not love more than one thing? Can we not BE more than one thing?

So today, I will do what Maddy did, and I encourage you to do the same below. I think this exercise will help you if you struggle with your own definition of yourself. I coach so many women who do.

Here goes. I am:

A wife, a mom, a daughter, a friend, a certified life coach, blogger, entrepreneur, speaker, published author, parenting and lifestyle tv correspondent, brand ambassador, fashion invention founder, cheerleader to all women, helper and encourager.

I still don’t know what that means, nor how to define this. But I’m starting to realize that it’s okay. It’s like Maddy said, we women can have a toolbox with different tools or skills that we whip out as we need them. What defines us isn’t what we do, it’s who we are.

WHO ARE YOU? I want to know.