Over the last 4 months I have been living out of a suitcase. This was something I had dreamed of more than 10 years ago. I wanted to go from one adventure to another and touch down on every country of the world. To actually live this out can be quite tiring and one can begin to feel “homeless” and “rootless”.

This season of jetsetting has made me appreciate my friends and mentors all the more. Friends who can pick up with you from where you last left off, even if that was 5 months ago or a year prior. Mentors who love you for who you are rather than value what you do.

Roles can change and therefore I try not to put value on my role or job. I’m thankful that I learned a long time ago to prioritize relationships. I used to be task-oriented and a work horse (aka a workaholic) and once when I found myself without a business card, I went through a mini mid-life crisis and felt like the biggest loser on the face of the earth.

There’s an equation that illustrates if you put your identity and worth in what you do:

Job+role+achievements=super-self false identity=life crisis and eventual misery

Why do some top CEOs and uber successful people feel so empty at the top? It’s not because it’s lonely to be a leader; it’s empty when you measure yourself against fleeting and fickle measurements like career achievements, wealth (the global recession taught us that retirement funds can be wiped out in a short time) etc. Why don’t we measure ourselves against how much love and compassion we pour out? or good character?

We are human beings, not human “doings”. But unfortunately this message is not the dominant one.