When I look back at the last couple of posts, I have to laugh at how sporty I seem. All that Olympic athlete admiration and addiction makes me sound as if I'm a real sports junkie...or at least a fan.
Um...no.
Actually, I am the quintessential bookworm. My parents signed me up for soccer lessons when I was 6 to help me "get out of my shell" and I spent every match running away from the ball (it really hurts when it hits you!) I spontaneously forget the rules of the game during the rare times I am watching sporting events and I am irrationally intimidated by stores that sell running shoes and spandex and those wildly out-of-my-league carabeener thingys.
Nope. Not sporty at all...or am I?
I've been working on my fitness and have been running and doing other forms of cardiovascular torture...er...exercise every day. I run at home, on the treadmill, where no one can see me or notice the very un-sporty way I huff and puff and pretend to be athletic. But the other day, I boldly bought a new exercise shirt to wear in the privacy of my own home and y'know, it perked me up a bit and dare I say...kind of made me feel as if I wasn't just "faking it until I made it" but that maybe, finally, possibly, inconceivably and yes, even deservedly, after hundreds of kilometres and gallons of sweat, that I was actually becoming a little sporty!
It made me think about career aspirations. If you have a goal or a dream, maybe it feels far away. Maybe you feel as if you're masquerading and a huge fake. But I bet that you're not. I bet you're still defining yourself as you were but maybe all that work you're doing towards your goal is actually helping you to become, without you even noticing it.
Comedian/actor Billy Crystal used to say: "it's not how you feel but how you look...and you look mahvelous!" And not to encourage a shopping habit or consumerism, but maybe if you outfitted yourself with one of the tools or sartorial attributes of the job you aspire to, you might see yourself in a new light--as in, almost or already there.
Wearing my new shirt and squinting my eyes a little, I can imagine that Eloise, one of my favourite children's characters might stand in front of me and say, "You look rawther sporty today."
How about you? I bet you look mahvelous too.
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I see this a lot with students approaching graduation. There is a big transition from seeing yourself as a student, to seeing yourself as a professional - whatever that first hoped-for "professional" job after graduation might be. Thanks for the thoughts on looking, and becoming, mahvelous.
ReplyDeleteHi Christine. I love this advice! Throughout my entire adult life, I've always done this when I change jobs, get a promotion, start something new, etc. It really helps me (literally) look at myself differently.
ReplyDeleteI was sort of embarrassed about this until it dawned on me that this attraction to "special clothes" is an established concept: We immediately react to someone wearing certain types of clothing without any other information. For example, if we see someone wearing a white jacket, we assume they are a medical doctor and we treat them as such. The funny thing is, there is no rule that says only medical doctors can wear white coats. I think the concept you are referring to is actually an internally focused version of the "special clothes" phenomenon. Cool!
Not sporty at all...that's me!! I can totally relate Christine. And I can relate to hiding out and exercising in the privacy of your own home. I've always had this thing that if I'm not "good enough" I'm going to hide. I wouldn't want anyone else to see my weaknesses or vulnerabilities - especially when it came to physical prowess or hand/eye coordination! But I really love how you have connected this to careers. It got me thinking - How have I held in an area of my career because I didn't think I was good enough? Where have I selfishly given into my embarrassment and hidden behind closed doors when showing my vulnerability would actually be encouraging to others to face their fears?
ReplyDeleteSo not sure if this is exactly what you intended but what I'm taking away from your post is a little encouragement to show the world my imperfections. That by showing others the efforts we make each day to learn and grow we're giving them license to take a courageous first step in a new direction. For without risk, we will fail to find life's greatest rewards.