day 545: Becoming Too Attached

Let's face it, our jobs are a huge influence over who we think we are and our self-worth and identity. It is common for me to have discussions with people about this as they they think about changing jobs or companies, especially when they have just lost their job or something has changed from a decision that was out of their control. That is when it becomes painfully obvious that we have become too attached to our work as the signature of who we are. Somewhere, along the way, we allow work and our job titles, to become that important to us. In reality, we all allow this to happen and as much as we want it to not be so, it is nearly impossible to separate the "who we are" from "what we do". So, what do we do so that we don't fall into the trap of becoming "too" attached? Not only do we ensure that we have many outside of work activities and relationships that can also define us it comes down to an attitude of attachment. We must always monitor this level of attachment to our job, to our company and to our work so that we can answer to ourselves who we would be if tomorrow it was all taken from us. The best advice comes from Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:31, "Those in frequent contact with the things for the world should make good use of them without becoming attached to them, for this world and all it contains will pass away." This is a good time of the year to evaluate our level of attachment to what we do. Has it gone too far? Does it need to be recalibrated? Is it time to ensure that what we do is not the full definition of who we really are?

Reference: 1 Corinthians 7:31 (New Living Testament)