Self Identity And Integrity

By Author: Mark Eyre
Total Articles: 8
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It's widely accepted now that 'being ourselves' is essential to personal happiness. It is also a key to success both in and outside work.

In this article, I detail five reasons why I think it's more difficult to 'be true to yourself' than ever before. In my next article, I will deal with how we can raise our self identity and develop our own unique authenticity. Understanding the five factors will help us deal with the dilemma of 'why am I so unhappy when I'm so economically comfortable'.

The five reasons come down to a combination of the pressures of career, and the pressures in society, which undermine our own self identity. Without being clear on our own identity, we lose the basis for being uniquely ourselves. Let's go then...

Reason 1: The collapse of work-life equilibrium

Summed up, it is no longer obvious for many working people where work ceases and home life begins. More than that, work is increasingly dominating the waking lives of many people, and even part time roles seem to take most of the week. There are many reasons for this. Just some of them include the following.

Firstly, ...
... work globalisation, which necessitates having to talk out of office hours with people who work in other countries in other time zones. Secondly, the increasing pressure under capitalism to cut costs, which often entails working longer hours - and for some the opposite work-life issue of being laid off. Thirdly the development of technology, which means that you don't leave your job when you leave the workplace.

In addition to piling huge pressure on our personal lives, this means more of our personal identity is connected with our job - after all, work is where we concentrate most of our time and efforts.

Reason 2: Loss of personal identity at work

In two crucial respects, our self identities have been undermined by work developments in the past fifty years. First, we have witnessed the demise of the job for life, or career for life. Given that much of our self identity has historically come from our job, this is not great news. You may recall your elders describing themselves as 'I'm a plumber', 'I work for General Motors', 'I'm a teacher in this or that school', or 'I'm a nurse'. Whatever it was, it was a key part of their personal identity, and we can no longer count on this. With this recession, millions of financial service and public sector workers are finding out this truth.

The other way that personal identities have been compromised is less obvious, and may be unintentional. Fifty years ago, you were paid to arrive at work, and perform a day's effort. That was it. It didn't matter what you thought, or what you might say, unless you went completely over board! However, this has changed - people are now paid to think, and businessesnow expect people to think in particular ways. Not only that, but moves by employers to adopt corporate values that all employees are expected to stick to puts more pressure on our personal identity. After all, if we put all our focus on corporate values, then we might lose sight of our own values.

Reason 3: Fragmentation of family & community

In 1960, the family model was clear. You were in a family, and families stuck together, usually within neighbourhoods that also stuck together. Your childhood friends became your friends for good, and you'd often end up working with them. Not so nowadays. Families are fragmented, parents often separated before youngsters reach adulthood, family members move further away from each other, with less contact. Friends lose touch, often as people change employers.

These trends mean that, for many people, identity can no longer arise from family or local area the way it used to. No wonder there is an epidemic of people attempting to retrace their family history - not to mention websites reuniting people. These are responses to loss of personal identity, at least partially.

Reason 4: The pressure to conform

The pressure to conform is obvious in the workplace, as we've just described. In addition, there are also increasing pressures in society to conform, beginning with our teenage years. Fads and fashions add to a natural desire most of us have to 'fit in' with others. So we wear identical clothes, buy the same music, wear the same makeup, as those with whom we want to fit. What's more, as the effect of advertising has become more nuanced, we do not notice how it undermines our personal identity. Everything from our phone to our car, and even the friends we have, are all influenced by this.

As well as compromising our identity, advertising contributes to one further risk to retaining our personal identity and integrity.

Reason 5: The propaganda of instant happiness

Come on, show me an advert where it doesn't claim in some way that, if you buy the product, you'll be happier (or less unhappy). We inhabit a society dominated by instant satisfaction, where having it now is the key to happiness. Western capitalism has basically been built on the promise of greater prosperity, wage rises, promotions, more holidays, and the like. Our society is based on the premise of 'when I get that, I'll be contented'. Whatever 'that' is. Then we wonder why we aren't happy when we do get what we wanted.

Of course, it is clear that happiness does come from within. But no one made a fortune by accepting this wisdom, so our happiness becomes conditional on acquiring more things.

So there you are. Five reasons why we are increasingly losing touch with our personal identity. Without our own identity, we feel increasingly discontented. It should not be surprising to find that there are now more healers in the UK than there are medical practitioners. After all, why would we expect our bodies to be vibrant when our spirits are sagging?

The first step to health is to own up to the problem, a bit like admitting 'I'm an alcoholic'. The second step is to understand some of the reasons why this happened, and I hope this article sheds a little light on this.

Mark Eyre
A published author and personal development consultant, Mark has 25 years experience of helping people improve their performance in work and life. His focus is on careers, improving resilience and developing great relationships. http://www.brilliantfutures.net/