You Belong

You belong because your you.  You don’t have to change who you are to belong. You don’t have to act a certain way to belong.  You just need to be you and let people see the real you. Certainly, there are always activities that must be completed, goals to be achieved, and deadlines to be met.  But have you considered that perhaps you can do all of those things, and be you?

We all want to belong.  Do you remember the TV show Cheers?  The theme song had this great line that perfectly captured why people came to Cheers “Where everybody knows your name, and we’re always glad you came.”  Wouldn’t it be great if the room lit up when you came in and people stopped to shout your name? “Norm” was the refrain on Cheers.  This is what we all want.  It’s in our DNA to want to be connected to other people.

“The most basic human desire is to feel like you belong.” – Simon Sinek

The world wants you to fit in.  If you’ve ever applied for a job you have undoubtedly seen that each opportunity had a thorough description of the candidate’s desired skill, experience, background etc…It’s unlikely that you, or anyone else meets all of the descriptors as laid out.  But, this is what we compare ourselves to.  Instead we should find the role that allows us to do what we do best that also fulfills the needs of the employer.  Alternately, you could confidently aspire to achieve success in roles in different ways than they have always been done by being you.

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

You should want to stand out.  If you subscribe to the use of tools like Strengthsfinder you are aware of the statistics that accompany the output.  In Strengthsfinder, the participant receives a report of their top five strengths in order out of 34 possible strengths.  The math behind those numbers says there is a 1 in 33 million probability that any one person’s top five strengths, in order, are the same as anyone else’s. So, if you allow yourself to be you, you will stand out. And your unique perspective will be a key aspect of why you belong.

“It sounds so simple, but if you just be yourself, you’re different than anyone else.” Tony Bennett