A linkedin post that prompted a reflective thought – ugh
Reframing Identity and Work-Life Balance
This post on linkedin Click here Took me to a rabbit hole I had to acknowledge and parse through!
The first slide and the question on it hit me wrong, so I paused before reacting. Even with the context of the other slides, the idea that I’m “becoming at work” doesn’t land for me. If my becoming is happening there, it’s already too late.
I learned that from my spouse and our partnership — and I relearn it hourly, and definitely daily. Who I’m becoming is shaped long before I log in: in my values, my home, my practices, my boundaries, and the disciplines that keep me from surrendering autonomy to any system. Work may benefit from that becoming, but it isn’t where it starts.
So I am very cautious about the framing of “becoming at work.” The slides in the linkedin post point to prayer, calling, gifts, and Christlike refinement—and while those can be meaningful reminders, they still assume that work is “A” primary arena where identity is foundationally shaped. For me, becoming isn’t something my workplace initiates. It’s a persistent and perpetual journey of reasonable self scrutiny rooted in my values, my family, my faith, and the disciplines and rituals define and adopt and practice outside the office and workspace.
I don’t surrender my autonomy lightly or without discernment and purposeful intent and especially not to systems—whether that’s work, religion, sports, rituals, or the subtle gamification loops that incessantly flood most humans without prejudice to alters, define, and steal who we are. My growth comes from my self identity and partnership with my family, Stoic self‑scrutiny, endurance work, hobbies and rituals that sharpen my attention, and the boundaries I assert so I don’t confuse external expectations with internal formation.
At work, what is changing is my posture: more courage to speak plainly, more temperance under pressure, more wisdom about where my energy actually matters, and more justice in how I show up for others. But the core of who I am isn’t a workplace artifact. It’s the through‑line I carry into every environment.
If anything, work benefits from the becoming that happens elsewhere—it doesn’t generate it.
