Your Output Doesn’t Define You

Repeat after me: I am a being, not a doing. What I do doesn’t define who I am.

Oftentimes, we forget that our productivity is not a defining factor of ourselves, our success, or really anything about us for that matter. The things you do, create, dream up, etc., can shape who you are, add to your life, and change you, but these things will never define you.

You are a human being, full of personality, character, love, and so much more than just the work you can do mentally and physically. In modern society, it’s so easy to become sucked into the comparison vortex. You wonder why your colleague seems to be doing 110%, 100% of the time, while you’re barely making it through the week. You may have done the same thing back in school, wondering why your peer finished the same exact workbook 10 minutes before you did, wondering why they’re better.

But we are never the product of how fast we work, how long we can work, how much we can do. It’s only a matter of how kind we are with others, what types of things we do, how we lead our lives — not the what.

Give yourself grace and remind yourself that doing it all isn’t possible or something to strive for. Do what fuels you and others, and remember: it’s human being, not a human doing!