Don Roulo is chief encouragement officer of Life Quest. He is a life, career and business coach as well as a Certified 48 Days Workshop Facilitator. He travels nationally and internationally to conduct business and career training as well as marriage and family workshops.

By DON ROULO

What do you want to be when you grow up? How often have we been asked and asked others this question? It is not just reserved for young children. I hear and even ask this question today to many adults. This is a legitimate question to ask, but is it the most important question we should be asking?

It is most certainly an important question, but I believe there is one which is far more important to ask. Instead of asking “what” do you want to be, we should be asking “who” do you want to be? What we want to be, over the decades of our life will change several, if not many, times. Who you want to be should be a foundation for life.

Simply put, it is the difference between doing and being. We can all get so busy doing, we forget about being.

I think most of us understand the “what” much easier. Your “what” is actually the things you do. It is your physical and mental skills, talents and abilities as well as your tasks and duties. Your “what” may lead you to become a doctor, engineer, manager, waitress, or business owner.

Your “who” is vastly different. Who you are includes being kind, compassionate, caring, giving, honest, loving, funny, thoughtful, a servant and many more. Again, who you are is much more important than what you do. Who you are has a massive impact on the success you achieve in what you do.

Finding out what you want to do will certainly affect success in your career and finances. This is important – no doubt about it. However, finding out and becoming who you want to be is even more critical to your overall success.

We see this proved out in life all around us in celebrities, athletes, politicians, business owners and even the waitress at our favorite restaurant. We may admire an athlete because of their incredible talent, but then we find out they lie, are rude and cheat on their spouse. Their “what” is incredible, but their ‘who’ diminishes them in our eyes.

When a business owner or an employee is rude to you, even though they do great work, do you go back? No! Their “who” is truly important to you. You will often sacrifice on the quality of service, or work done, if you know you will be treated with respect, kindness and even like family. I know I frequent places which may not have the best price or even product, but how I am treated trumps everything else.

Just as pursuing what you want to be is a process filled with changes, so is pursuing who you want to be. I want to get better at what I do from year to year and it requires changes. More importantly, I want to get better at who I should be and the changes it requires are often more difficult, but are so worth the return.

Businesses certainly want a base level of ability and knowledge from their employees. However, they look for the “who” in people because they know they can train the “what.” Who you are is far more important than what you do. Who do you want to be when you grown up?

About the Author

Don Roulo is a life, career and business coach as well as a Certified 48 Days Workshop Facilitator. He travels nationally and internationally to conduct business and career training as well as marriage and family workshops.

As a business consultant, he has written business plans and worked to market products or services as well as organizing financial statements for investors. Because of his success in the sales and business arena, Don has been blessed with the opportunity to train, motivate and inspire others. His passion is to motivate and equip people to find their passion and achieve their goals and God given destiny.