There’s a big difference between who you are and what you are.

It sounds simple, but I think we spend far too much of our lives forgetting the distinction…

What you are is everything the outside world can measure.

It’s your job, your income, your grades, your followers, your accomplishments, your failures, your appearance, your mistakes, and every label someone has ever placed on your name. It is the version of you that can be put on a résumé, displayed on a screen, compared to someone else, or reduced to a number.

But none of those things can tell the whole story of who you are.

Because what you are can change.

You can lose your job. You can lose money. Your followers can disappear. You can fail at something you once thought you would succeed at. You can make mistakes you wish you could take back. You can become someone completely different from the person you were ten years ago.

And yet, somehow, you’re still you.

Who you are exists somewhere deeper.

It’s the way you treat people when nobody is watching. It’s what you believe when there is nothing to gain from believing it. It’s the kindness you show when no one will ever know about it. It is the courage you find when you’re afraid, the way you keep going when life gives you every reason to stop, and the person you choose to become when nobody is telling you who to be.

That’s why the saying “be yourself” means something much deeper than simply acting naturally.

It means be who you are… not what you are.

Because the world will constantly try to convince you that your circumstances are your identity. It will tell you that your success makes you worthy and your failure makes you less worthy. It will convince you that the labels attached to you are permanent.

Remember you’re allowed to outgrow every version of yourself.

You’re allowed to change your mind… to start over. You’re allowed to become someone your past self would barely recognize.

Just remember your worth was never hiding inside the things you accomplished.

Those things describe your life.

They don’t define your soul.

So don’t spend your life trying to prove what you are to everyone else.

Spend it discovering who you are when there is nothing left to prove.

Your #1 Fan,

Uncommon Wisdom