10 Life changing Lessons – Nr. 2 – I know who I am

“When you love what you are doing, you will never work a day in your life”. This quote is sandblasted against a glass panel when you enter the offices / playground of KingPrice insurance company in Pretoria South Africa. One quickly realizes that this is prevalent as you stroll through the open plan offices of KingPrice.

The second lesson that I learned from successful business owners is that they have clarity about their identity. It reminds me of little Johnny (aged 9), who got home and asked his mother: “Mommy, where do I come from?” Taken of guard, she sent Johnny to his dad to answer the dreaded question about the birds and the bees. Daddy sweated through all the detail with Johnny listening very puzzled. “That’s strange”, Johnny replied. “Jimmy at my school says he comes from Cape Town.”

Neil Diamond verbalises the confusion that so many people find themselves in when he sings: listen to the song here

Clarity about your own identity is a necessity if you want to be successful in life, especially when running a business and leading your staff.

Having that said, the question then is “how do I discover my identity?”

The following practical steps will assist you to answer, what I call…

The most important question will be asked and answered next week in lesson nr. 3.

A discovery of the following 3 building blocks that make up my identity will help you to get clarity on your identity.

Note – these 3 building blocks are by no means comprehensive. Psychology, and particularly industrial psychology, which addresses the functioning of people in their place of work, can very easily complicate this discovery with the vast amount of questionnaires that have been developed over the last few decades.

Building block 1 – My talents

You often hear people say, “that’s a born leader”. Certainly leaders are born – how else did they get here?

Talents differ from skill in the sense that it is something you are born with. Let me illustrate with a personal example about music. I would love to sing and play the guitar – the fact is that I have no musical talent what so ever. In fact, I am the guy they get to sing to get rid of the crowd at the end of a show.

On the other hand, I was born with a talent for ball sport, in fact, if it is round, I can play it.

So, how do you discover your talents?

• Make a list of the things you like doing.

• Ask a friend (spouse) what are the things you are good at doing.

The Xpand Mentoring program that I use has a great tool that will help you to list your top 10 talents. Contact me for more information.

Building Block nr. 2 – Discover your personality

Good news – a talents and personality test can not be flunked. It’s not good or band, right or wrong.

More good news – contrary to general belief, you have a personality. In the work place staff are well aware of their boss’ personality. They may not be able to scientifically quantify your personality – but let me tell you – they know what kind of boss you are.

If other people know what kind of personality you have, then surely you need to have a clear mind about what kind of personality you have. Are you an extrovert, or introvert? Are you dominant, or steady, an influencer or compliant?

Not sure – well, find out? Every business owner need to know who he or she is.

Building block nr. 3 – My values

Successful business leaders know what they stand for. “If you don’t stand for something, your will fall for anything”, someone said.

Faith in God is a strong value amongst the business leaders with whom I interact. Yet, that is a very general value that need to be specified clearly. For one of my business friends, social justice is a value that he holds very high. Another business owner with whom I frequently interact feels very strong about family values.

How do you identify the values, i.e. the unbreakable unshakeable principles that you will not compromise on? 3 indicators of what you value are: What are the things you spend the most…

• Time

• Energy

• And Money.

What next?

Ask yourself this “second most important question in life” – who am I?

If you define yourself by…

• the car you drive,

• the house in which you life or

• the business you do or own,

…you still need to do some discovery to find your true identity.

worXinu has a mentorship program that will assist you in the journey to get clarity on your identity.