Cup of Inspiration

Here in the last week of September, we have a few more days to celebrate Fall Hat Month. We pull out those hats that we enjoy with the cooler temperatures. Fall hats often will reflect some of the colors we see in the autumn foliage decorating our lawns and parks. These hats allow us to show off our personalities in a fun way as we look forward to a new season of the year.

In life, we continuously wear different figurative hats, sometimes with only moments to switch from one to the other, while other hats are dusted off for special occasions. In the mornings you may wear your caregiver hat as you help your loved ones get ready for another busy day. As you head into the office, you pull out your work hat (figuratively if not literally.) This is the hat you maintain as you go from meeting to meeting. You may even have more than one hat in this environment, depending on the work setting. After work, you will pull out the next relevant hat for the situation. It may be the loyal friend hat when sharing a coffee with a friend that’s in pain and needs to talk. It may be the return of the caregiver hat from that morning, which you put back on as you prepare a meal for your loved ones while listening to how their day went.

While we wear our various figurative hats in life, it can be too easy to compare ourselves to others wearing the same hat in a particular situation. We may look at how someone is wearing their manager hat and feel we should wear ours the same way. However, we forget that each person has not only a unique combination of hats, but also a unique combination of talents.

Since we do hold a distinct blend of talents, we shouldn’t compare ourselves to others. We can certainly find inspiration from others, as well as ideas for how we can perform better in a particular role while wearing a certain hat. However, we shouldn’t aim to perform exactly like another person. How you execute as a manager will never be the same as another at work, no matter how hard you try. Don’t attempt to wear your coworker hat exactly in the same way as a teammate. Your unique set of talents and experiences sets you apart from others in your office. You may learn a more efficient way of completing a project, and you may get ideas for a new process from your coworkers, but you will never work exactly in the same fashion, just as they will never work exactly like you.

In life, we wear many different hats. How we wear certain hats may resemble others, but it will never be the exact same way. Celebrate your uniqueness as you wear your various hats in life. There is only one you.