Putting Yourself Out There—Making Who You Are Part of What You Do

It’s possible to go through life without really putting your own stamp on what you do. You can go through the motions, do what is asked of you, check all the right boxes, but still not find an outlet that allows you to express yourself. It’s also true that you can live what appears to be an ordinary life, and through your personality and interaction, or your vision for the path forward, you can make it part of you, and in doing so, make your life a little less ordinary. This isn’t complicated, but it always involves a leap of faith—you have to take a chance and make yourself vulnerable. The risks that you take—the risk of failure, of opening yourself up to criticism or ridicule, of opening your heart and soul to the world—are all worth it, as the rewards are substantial. You’ll gain a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment that could not have come as a result of less personal achievements. We are all here to share who we are—don’t lose out on putting your own stamp on the world.

Creating something that’s a part of you

All of us can, and should, put ourselves into our work and our activities. We don’t need to have extraordinary artistic talents or write the great American novel. You can put who you are into everything you do. If you are truly present in the moment, you are putting part of yourself into what you’re doing. You will be more likely to put your stamp on any activity—from the most mundane work task, to your relationships, to your most passionate pursuits—if you commit yourself to it and fully live the experience. Once you’ve developed this attitude and approach, you will be able to be more intentional about where you direct your energy so that you are giving the appropriate amount of yourself into what you care about most. This will lead to outcomes from your efforts that are personal statements and contain part of who you are.

Taking a chance

It can be scary to take a chance on something you’ve conceived or created. You have to make the transition from feeling something is worthy to a real-world evaluation of whether it’s worthy (or in demand, or popular). If something is not well received, you may feel that you don’t have the ability or talent to create something worthwhile—that it was just a dream. However, there are many examples of highly successful people who failed (here is a good sampling). Names like Jerry Seinfeld, J.K. Rowling, and Walt Disney are among those who, if they had given up when faced with an initial failure, would have never benefited the world with their vision and talent. Although it can be a cliché, it is still a fundamental truth that failure can be a fantastic teacher, and if you can keep an open mind (and a thick skin), you can learn lessons from your failures that are invaluable. Lessons that you’d never get if you never took a chance.

Something ventured, a lot to be gained

Another reason it’s worthwhile to take a risk and put yourself out there is the potential rewards. Of course it’s possible to realize fulfillment and satisfaction without putting part of yourself into what you do, but those feelings will never be as strong as when you do. When you create something yourself, or put your mark on something, the feeling of pride and accomplishment is also very personal. Part of the reason for this is that when you take this kind of risk, you make yourself vulnerable. Allowing people to see your vulnerability can be really hard, but it makes your creation that much more meaningful. There’s also a risk that people will get to know you much more deeply and may think about you differently. Most of us keep a certain degree of anonymity in our identity, or we may show different versions of ourselves to different people. When you share part of who you are, you open the curtain into your soul.

When writing Blocks of Life, I struggle with the decision to post these thoughts, as they let the whole world know what I am thinking and who I am. It’s hard to make myself that vulnerable to anyone who reads the blog. I put part of myself into every topic and share extremely personal stories in my writing. There are times when I hesitate, afraid to share that much of myself, but part of making these ideas resonate is making them personal, making the readers feel that they are taking the journey with me. This can only happen if I open myself up for all the world to see—by making myself vulnerable. There’s always a chance that people won’t like what I write, won’t agree with me, or that my writing will change their opinions of me. Those kinds of rejections are, by their nature, rejections of me—of who I am. But it’s OK for some people to not like what I create—to not like me.

If we can incorporate this acceptance and be open to people’s reactions, no matter what they are, then any reactions will be not just OK, but exceedingly rewarding. They will become part of our process for how we interact with the world, and we will become much more resilient.

Make what you do your own, and not only will you become a stronger person—everything you do will become more rewarding and fulfilling.

My Life Aware

I take pause.
Is it ready to go?
I don’t know, will it show
Who I am?

I tried so hard
But I can’t really see
if I should, if it’s good,
Or a sham. 

I share myself–
part of who I am.
All of me, for all to see,
nothing held back.

Will people change,
how they think of me?
All and part, bear my heart,
What I lack. 

Then I see
Where this road will lead
Connections, affections,
It’s all there. 

It’s all worth it,
The risks I’ve taken
I’ve my prize, stronger ties,
My life aware.