I started a new pathway at Toastmaster. The first project is ice breaker, to introduce yourself to the club. Instead of giving an overview of my bio, I decided to present differently…
If I tell you that I’ve lived, studied, and worked in 5 countries and across 6 industries in the past 17 years, what would you say? If I tell you that I have 3 degrees in different fields and I’m working on the 8th certificate, what would you say? If I tell you that I’ve traveled to 30+ countries if 49 of US states (would be 50 if without Covid), what would you say?
You may think I’m either a genius or come from a very rich family…(I’ll pay you later/ joking)…the reality is far from that…
My IQ test at high school was 119 which is far from 180 to be a genius. My parents worked one job before retirement. They live in the same townhouse I grew up. They have no business or other property. I’m normal and come from a traditional family. How did I do all those things? Traveling around the world, working across industries, and learning in different fields?
Well, the answer is simple. The one word to describe Jane is…Curiosity. Curiosity drives me to learn, explore, and ask questions (I get energy from anything new, different ideas, ways of doing things, and experiences). Curiosity enables me to easily make friends wherever I am (I love to hear people’s stories). Curiosity empowers me to raise hands to volunteer thought I know nothing or little about (I’ll learn and figure it out as I go) without concerning the ego or risk. Curiosity helps me find joy, opportunity, and courage in life and gets me here to meet and learn with/ from you all…
I got a lot of responses from the audience: people liked the creative and simple story; people complimented my boldness to ask audience to think for his/ her one word. To my surprise, three very good speakers (& accomplished professionals) whom I thought are very creative and usually have great ideas don’t have one word to describe themselves…
People usually have no problem to come up a list of words to describe themselves. Why is it challenging to choose One word?
Do I really “know” myself? (Are we’re too busy to think about it or dare to be me?)
How can “one” word possibly represent me? (I’m multi-talented, versatile…)
I got to be “careful” to choose the word (how will others think and perceive me?)
What is your One word?