Latest / The Person behind the Position / I am not my position or am I?

Transcript

I am not my position or am I? · The Person behind the Position

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the person behind the position. I'm your host,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Michael Chisholm. You know, I often ask the question, if
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: the position disappeared tomorrow, who would you still be? Well,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: today I want to talk about something that has been
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: on my mind. Something that caused me to reflect on
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: my own life and the positions I've held. I am
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: not my position, or am I? Welcome to the person
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: behind the podcast. Podcast that looks beyond what people do
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: to discover who they are. I'm your host, Michael Chisholm.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: I was engaged in a conversation not too long ago,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: and someone alluded to the idea that it would be
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: hard to separate the person from the position. This idea
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: has stuck with me since we had that conversation. I
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: kept asking myself, do I believe that idea? I know
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: there is more to me than my positions. I know
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: I am more than my titles. I am more than
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: my handles.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: I am known as a.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Preacher, pastor, author, professor, real estate agent, and human resources professional.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: In the past year, the majority of my positions has
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: been taken away. I wasn't writing any books, wasn't pastoring
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: a church, I wasn't helping anyone with their real estate goals,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: I wasn't working in human resources, I wasn't teaching any classes.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: For a long time, I felt as if I had nothing.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: I felt like everything had been taken away from me.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: I felt like the bottom fell out. I felt like
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: I was nothing without the positions. I wonder if the
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: positions gave me my identity.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: I was needed. I was counted on. I was called
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: on for advice.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: I was helping directors lead their departments. I was pouring
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: into other pastors, and now I found myself not doing anything.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: I was asked a question by my brother, and I
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: had to sit with that question. I've stated the question
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: in a previous episode, but the question was, who are
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: you now that you are not doing all of the
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: things you're used to doing?
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: It took me a while to move from that question.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: I had spent so much time chasing positions that now
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: that the positions were gone, I.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: Was stuck asking myself the question, who am I?
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: I wrestled with that question while still trying to chase
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: down a nine to five in human resources because the
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: scarcity of money is my reality. That question had immobilized me,
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: but it got me thinking. Weeks later, my brother came
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: back to me and talked to me about using all
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: of the skills I had acquired over the years to
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: do something for myself. I considered his question, but I
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: began to ask myself, what should I do?
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: This wasn't a what.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Can I get myself into now moment. This wasn't I
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: think he might be on to something moment. I've worked
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: for others for years, and now that I wasn't, I
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: had an opportunity. So I began to look at all
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: of the things I had done and said.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: What can I do now? I wrote a book. Yep,
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: I wrote a book.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: Or should I say another book? People told me to
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: let them know when I wrote another book. So that's
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: just what I did. I ended up authoring three more
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: books after that. I thought they were bringing some funds,
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: at least.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: Boy, was I wrong.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: So I started trying to use the skills I acquired
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: to help others by offering services. That didn't pan out either.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: I eventually got appointed to another church as pastor. I
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: was grateful that God wasn't through with me yet. I
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: always said I didn't want to live off of the church.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: So I kept trying to chase a nine to five.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: Because bills don't stop just because you're not working. When
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: I was assigned to the church, I had many emotions.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: Many that I will not share this time. But I
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: will say I felt rejuvenated to a degree. I felt
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: like I could get back to what I knew I
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: could do. I felt like I was given a purpose again.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: But I also learned and I'm still learning who I
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: was and not what I was. I started to discover who.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: Michael was in his over the past year.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: I learned it's okay for me to not like something
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: and not have to defend it. I learned that Michael
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: has more to give than he gave himself credit for.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: I learned that.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Michael learned how to do a lot of things on
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: and off the job. I learned that Michael was still
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: discovering Michael. And yes, I'm still trying to get a
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: nine to five. I also learned that not everyone will
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: support what you do, and that's okay.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: Everyone is not going to support, but some will.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: I also learned that there is so much more to
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: discover because we are learning, or at least should be,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: every day. I learned I don't always have to give up.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: I learned how to power through even when something doesn't work.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: I started off by asking, I am not my position.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Or am I?
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: If you had said that to me before today, I
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: believe I would give this answer. No, I am not
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: my position. Do I bring skills to that position?
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: Yes. Do I bring talent to the position? Yes. Do
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: I bring education to the position? Yes. Do I bring
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: me to the position? Yes. I do believe you.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: Can separate yourself from your position because the position was
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: there before you ever took it.
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: The thing that changed was you in it and what
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: you brought to it.
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: I am not my position. When all of the positions
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: were taken away, I was Michael And I learned to
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: be okay with that. And as you think about your
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: own life, I want to leave you with the question
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: I ask here on the person behind the position.
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: Who are you behind the position? I'm Michael Chisholm. And
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: this has been the person behind the position. If you've
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: enjoyed this episode, share it with your friends.