Who are you? Merriam-Webster defines identity as “the distinguishing character or personality of an individual.” Ok, hmmm. Well, I guess in that case, who you and I are shouldn’t change, right?
WHO you are is different than WHAT you do.
You are not your job title, who you volunteer for, where you worship, or, in my case, who’s mom you are. So, here’s the deal. I have been a Sales Director for years….like 2 decades. That’s the longest amount of time I have been in a job. I settled into that identity without issue. In fact, I loved it! While I was self-employed, I had the reputation of a huge company behind my name. I mastered the starting my own business thing, but if anything went wrong, I could lean on the company to “fix-it”. From customer concerns and returns to consultant questions and problems.
Honestly, I was THE face of that company in town.
It was part of everything I did. I sprinkled that career into every nook and cranny of my life. I took several years to build that and I was proud to see that my efforts paid off. Now, here I am starting a coaching practice and I
want my name associated with life and leadership coaching. I told myself, wringing my hands, that I needed to change my identity. How everyone, including all the peoples on the interwebs, saw me. Cosmetic sales superwoman to extremely nervous, new Life Coach.
What was I thinking??
Who changes careers in their mid 40’s? Umm well, plenty of folks do. Why would I leave such a fantastic business? Well, I haven’t left it and I don’t HAVE to. For 5 years I felt a daily nudge from my creator to look at my dreams again.
For quite a while I forcibly pushed them from my consciousness. My fear of coming out of my comfort zone was overwhelming, at least in the beginning. It’s been a year since I started this journey and I am doing things I never even imagined I would have been doing. And guess what? There’s more to come! I’m excited for what’s ahead and who I will have the honor to coach.
Now what?
I’m actively building my coaching practice and am already working with a handful of clients. My name is Ami Lloyd. If you asked me to describe WHO I am, I would say: Adventurer, mother, wife, friend, daughter, sister, detective, edgy, progressive, imaginative, passionate, protective and loyal. That’s me and more. That’s my identity if there ever was one.