“Hello, my name is _____.”
From our Point of View
When we are asked to introduce ourselves, why is our job title one of the first things that comes to our mind? When we are meeting someone new, why is the first question almost always, “So, what do you do?” What if instead, we asked, “What are your top 3 values?” or “ What are you passionate about?” Wouldn’t that tell us more about someone than what they do for a living? Somewhere along the way, our identity has become confused with our career. For some, this might be the honest truth. Who they are is what they do. But that shoe doesn’t fit everyone.
The question “So, what do you do?” can be an easy question to ask when you are meeting people for the first time. But should that be the standard conversation starter? What we mean is, if you ask this question to someone that hates their job or is embarrassed about their profession, it can be tough to answer. What happens if you were to lose that job? The one you have poured your heart into. Would it feel bone crushing to be asked that question? Would you feel lost about who you are? In Nohemi’s opinion, it seems as if we find some sort of power or comfort in our job titles. Our question is: is that really you?
With that being said, we understand jobs are important and we are not saying that you need to quit your job; PLEASE don’t take our words out of context. Instead, we want to build a community that helps people know that there is more to life than work - plus so much more outside of a career. We want to help people (this includes us) find their passions. We want to find our happiness/personality not solely in our career, but in other areas as well, in order to gain a better understanding of who we are beyond our job title.
From others’ Point of View
In his TedTalk, “How to Introduce Yourself”, Kevin Mahler brings up some good, relevant points on how we our introductions have evolved from when we were a child to now as an adult. As a child, we would talk about our passions, what we found fun and exciting, or perhaps our latest obsession, when meeting someone new. But as we grew up, we started to become fearful of what people may say when we share those passions, because they are a piece of who we are. It feels too vulnerable. So, our introductions have changed into what we know as the “Normal Introductions.” We have become so afraid of being judged that we remove anything that feels too personal and stick with the things that feel safe: our name and our job title.
From a Biblical Point of View
When Jesus introduces himself, he doesn’t give his ‘job title’ - Jesus the Carpenter - but he instead introduces himself as the I AM:
I am the Way the Truth and the Life (John 14: 5-7)
I am the true Vine (John 15: 1-8)
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 22:13)
(Follow Molly Wilcox’s Introducing Jesus Series as she discusses how Jesus introduces himself 😊 )
Jesus has always been his true self and has never afraid of who he is! He knew that it could cause conflict, weird looks, and even some confusion, because he was stepping out of the norm. But by doing this, it allowed people to trust him, have faith in him and to follow him, because he spoke in truth and was authentic!
We are ending this post with a challenge!
The next time you meet someone, pay attention to how you introduce yourself. Consider whether it represents who you are, and if it doesn’t, think about how you want to change it, then practice your new introduction. We want to challenge you to bring your authentic self to the conversation so that we can establish more meaningful relationships and get to know each other on a deeper level! ❤️
