You’re More Than Your Job: Finding Self-Worth Outside of Work

Woman working on computer/Taylor Tieden for BioSpace

It’s not unusual for people to tie their self-worth to jobs. It happens across all industries, including biopharma, said Sonia Dobinsky, owner of Sonia Dobinsky Coaching + Consulting. The issue, she told BioSpace, is if they connect too much of their self-worth to a job by overidentifying with it.  

If someone asked you, “What do you do?”, how would you respond? According to Dobinsky, some people’s answers signal that their job is their identity. For example, she said, a biopharma professional might not talk about how they help save lives through the work they do. Instead, they might focus on their employer.   

“You can find out if you are overidentifying if the answer isn’t the impact but the company you work for or the job title that you have,” she said. 

If you’re tying too much of your self-worth to your job, how can you fix that? Should you separate those two elements of your life?  

Drawbacks of Tying Too Much Self-Worth to Your Job

There are several drawbacks to overidentifying with your job, according to Dobinksy. They include: 

• Overlooking signs that the job isn’t working for you anymore.  

• Not thinking about what an alternative life or other work looks like. 

• Not knowing who you are if you lose your job.  

• Stress. 

• Burnout. 

In addition, Dobinsky shared, “Colleagues could become your primary—and your only—friends, and that means that if something should happen to the job, you have lost not only your financial stream and the sense of who you are but also your community that could be supporting you through that process.” 

Drawbacks of Separating Self-Worth From Work

While there are drawbacks to tying self-worth to your job, Dobinsky cautioned against creating a complete separation between the two. If you do, she said, you may have too little invested in your work, and you might not put in enough effort to achieve success—or ensure your employer sees your achievements.  

“You aren’t perceived necessarily as a necessary employee, and you could go down sort of a slippery slope in terms of job security,” Dobinsky warned. 

Instead of completely separating self-worth from your job, she recommended adding things to your life that provide self-worth outside of your work. 

Finding Self-Worth Outside of Your Job

There are two key ways you can further develop your self-worth, according to Dobinsky. The first is using your transferable skills outside of your job. Identify what you love most about your role and what you’re happiest doing. Then, Dobinsky said, ask, “How can I do those things or find opportunities to practice or enhance those things outside of work?” 

For example, she noted: 

• If you love the public speaking aspect of presenting research, think about where else you can speak so you’re getting satisfaction out of it in a way that’s not tied to your work.  

• If you enjoy writing, look for ways to put your name on something not tied to your employer, which could open up other opportunities for you.  

• If you like your pharma sales job, fundraise for a charity that’s meaningful for you. 

The second way Dobinsky recommended developing self-worth outside of your job is networking just for the sake of networking.  

“Look for people who used to be in the industry or who are in the industry who are doing interesting things, and develop that social network, because one of the things I talked about is if you love a job, and you’re consumed by a job, you tend to have all your social connections in that place,” Dobinsky said. “Start to develop social connections in other places and other ways.” 

Remember Who You Are Outside of Work

To help clients avoid tying too much self-worth to work and highlight if they need “a little fix,” Dobinsky asks them two questions you can ask yourself: “Who are you, and what do you value?” She noted that their answers can be very telling, as some will only give work-related responses.  

“I can tell you where they are on the burnout and the attachment-to-work and the ‘Work gives me status, my personal status’ kind of continuum just by asking those questions,” she said. 

Dobinsky also asks clients if money were no object, what would they love to do? 

“They might include a lot of pieces of the work that they do, but they might also include something else,” she said. 

Angela Gabriel is content manager, life sciences careers, at BioSpace. You can reach her at angela.gabriel@biospace.com and follow her on LinkedIn. 

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