Your quirks

I was confronted with a punchy question today:

“What’s this all for?” (work being the “this”).

Not a unique question by any stretch – it’s basically “What’s Your Why?” without internet-overuse dripping off it.

Being honest for a minute – I fall for the same junk lots of us fall for… trying to look far more together than I really am. The truth is:

• I’m terribly disorganised
• I love my home, but it’s ALWAYS a mess
• I get nervous about not being able to provide for our kids
• I worry that I’m not good enough at lots of things
• I really like people, but I’m also pretty awkward and introverted, which means I either avoid people or become weird around them

These aren’t dark thoughts, they’re just on my mind a lot – even if I’m working through similar challenges with clients.

Something I’ve noticed: helping people with their challenges helps me with some of mine. Maybe it’s a selfish thing, I honestly don’t know.

Some of the stuff above is temporary – as my kids get older, we’ll get on top of the house, it’s not a big deal.

The more permanent stuff though – the quirks – are exactly that: permanent.

I’ll work on being more comfortable around people, but for better or worse I’ll always be an introvert. I’ll always worry about not having enough for the kids even when I’m fuelling the fireplace with chunky rolls of cash (I won’t do that).

So maybe that’s the answer…

It’s not so much about gaining clarity, but having connection. What’s work for? Maybe “the work itself” is the answer.

I talk about this thing called an Untouchable Advantage. It’s a combination of all of the stuff that makes you and your business completely impossible to copy. This is a growing list:

• Your work experiences
• Your life experiences
• Your reputation
• Your knowledge
• Your cultural influences
• Your professional influences
• Your familial influences
• Your relationships
• Your weirdness
• Your scars
• Your taste

And I’d add: “Your fears”.

For me, they shape a lot of my decisions, my actions, the people I choose to be around… and the people I don’t.

It’s all pretty unique.

Embrace your quirks – they’re a feature, not a bug.