What does it mean to bring your 'whole self' to work?

The expectations of corporate culture that have ruled our past would dictate that you leave your home life at the door when you arrive to work. That work and life are two distinct parts of you that you must manage and keep separately, not letting one influence the other. While we have distinct responsibilities and obligations within each of these functions in our life, this expectation of strict separation simply does not work anymore.

To honor our Humanity, we have a responsibility to honor our whole self. To honor our whole self we must recognize that all parts of our identity show up and influence one another, no matter how hard we try to keep them separate. It is easy enough to say that we won't let work and life influence each other, but we all know that it is quite literally impossible.

So stop trying to keep them separate and allow them to blend! You can honor that these parts exist and serve different functions, but allow them to be fluid and ebb and flow throughout your day and life. A holistic approach will allow you to stay more centered and show up as the most actualized version of yourself in everything that you do.

How do you bring your whole self to work (and really into life)?

Recognize that it is impossible to separate out a work self and your life self - This alone can provide relief for many people. There is an incredible amount of emotional labor wasted when trying to keep our identities separate. Letting your guard down will allow you the energy to blend with ease and intention.

Create boundaries so that others can recognize which role is your current focus - While parts of you may not be totally separate, there can still be and should be some separation. Clarifying what this means to you and the extent to which parts of you will blend at any given time will allow you to recognize when you're trying too hard to separate or if they're too blended.

Show up to the extent you are comfortable and it makes sense - Bringing your whole self to work doesn't mean you're dumping all your personal life into your work, it just means that you honor that what happens in your life is naturally going to influence how you show up for work. Bringing your whole self to work can be internally only, you don't owe explaining this to anyone else.

Communicate how you're showing up to those around you - This may seem contradictory to the point above, and really this is just to the extent that it makes sense to you and in the moment. This can be helpful for those times when you're struggling to not let your personal life override and affect how you're able to show up at work. If your work space isn't a place where it is safe to communicate this, you can connect with a friend or a loved one too.

Allow yourself to tap out and regroup if one identity is too present - Bringing your whole self to work really gives yourself the permission to own that sometimes you may need a moment to regroup and address some way that work or life is showing up in the other. Honoring our whole self provides a kindness that removes the stigma of 'not being able to' when it comes to expectations around balancing work and life.

Accept the imperfection (and beauty!) that is life, no matter the role you're in - When you honor your whole self and show up as a you, you also can live in the ease that you show up with all of your imperfections as well. These imperfections are the core of what makes us human and thus what makes us special, in everything we do...work and life.