Pamela Slim Asks: “Who Do You Think You Are?”

By Linda Gabriel

Thought Medicine is about examining our thoughts in order to transform our lives. Perhaps the most important thinking we ever do is about ourselves. Yet rarely are we asked as Pam Slim asks in the 25 minute video below, “Who do you think you are?” I hope you’ll take the time to watch it.

How do you describe yourself to yourself?

What is your core identity? If you’re like most people you probably begin by thinking in terms of gender, race or nationality. Perhaps sexual preference, your job description or your role in your family.

But do any of these even begin to encompass all that you are?
How do we answer this essential question in a way that isn’t limiting?

Are you able to see yourself clearly and then stand tall in your self-awareness? When she interviewed her favorite author, Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Toni Morrison, Oprah commented about how centered and calm the author appeared to be. Morrison smiled serenely and answered,

“I am comfortable with my strengths and my weaknesses.”

I remember sitting up straight and letting that sink in.

“…my strengths and my weaknesses.” What a concept!
Until that moment I had unconsciously believed that I could only be comfortable with my strengths. But weaknesses? Weren’t weaknesses the primary cause of personal discomfort? Weaknesses were either to be denied and hidden or ferreted out and expunged.  “Feel the fear and do it anyway!”

If I became comfortable with my weaknesses, why would I be motivated to accomplish anything? Yet there sat Toni Morrision. Pulitzer Prize-winner. Nobel Prize winner! Openly admitting that she had weaknesses, smiling and saying she was quite comfortable with that. On Oprah. Maybe she was onto something.

But here’s the the more troubling realization: When I looked a little deeper,  I discovered I wasn’t very comfortable with my strengths either. Talk about a Catch-22.

Many of us have grown up in environments where the question, “Who do you think you are?” has been asked in a challenging – or even shaming – way. “Who do you think you are to think you’re so smart? Or beautiful? Or talented? Who do you think you are to be challenging authority? To be outshining your mother, father, brother, sister, teacher? Who do you think you are to be imagining something that’s never been done before? To be transforming the world?”

Even if it wasn’t said to you out loud, our schools and institutions tend to pressure us into – and reward – conformity. Never mind that Bill Gates and Steve Jobs dropped out of school in order to create an entirely new industry that today we can’t imagine life without. Who do you think you are to have an idea, a vision, a dream?

And now with the internet and youtube,  there’s a new wave of cynics who like to quote Warhol.  Everyone will have their “15 minutes of fame” so it’s naive to think you’re special in any way. Yet  the truth is the same as it’s ever been. As Einstein said long ago:

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

Who are you to think a different kind of thought?
If you want some encouragement, I invite you to watch Pam Slim’s excellent and inspiring 25 minute video. Then take a moment to ask yourself, “Who do you think you are?”

Don’t let anyone stop you from living your best answer.

Pamela Slim is the author of Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur

Who do you think you are? from Pamela Slim on Vimeo.

People mentioned in this video:

Charlie Gilkey
Andrea J. Lee
Glenda Watson-Hyatt
Karl B. Stewart
Pace and Kyeli
Becky Blanton

Tagged as: Escape from Cubicle Nation, Pam Slim, Self Confidence, Success