Morgan R.
Photography by Devin Bittner
If you’re reading this, your worth is not defined by your productivity.
For most of our lives, especially as students or professionals, we are ranked, evaluated, and praised based on output—grades, job titles, achievements, “success”. We assume we’ll eventually outgrow this mindset, yet it’s everywhere. Productivity can feel good and give life meaning, but it also becomes dangerous when it’s the only way we measure ourselves. When the grades are complete, the job changes, or our roles shift (parent to caregiver to retiree), we are left wondering: Who am I without the labels? What remains?
These questions matter. At some point, we all fall short of our own, or society’s, standards. If we never define ourselves outside of productivity, it defines us. I’ve spent countless nights ruminating on thoughts that I’m not doing enough or that it’s not quality work. That pressure erodes your mental health, sleep, joy, and relationships. I’ve turned down time with friends, feared that I’ll become a future workaholic parent, and wondered if any of it even matters. It’s an endless cycle where even the journey is riddled with doubt.
The ancient Greeks invented an ego-protecting solution, believing that every person was inhabited by a daemon or external spirit responsible for creativity and talent. That way, individuals could never take full credit for their successes or full blame for their failures, providing a freedom in identity.
So, when you go to answer who you are, remember that any answer is one piece, temporary, and that you will never be a sum of any label. Sometimes, I start vague: I am a person. That gives me permission to be imperfect and still have value. It means I can feel awe, I can remember being ten, I can grow, and that I need sleep. Next, I add “right now” to more specific “I am” statements (e.g., “I am a graduate student right now”). Finally, I pick a few current values to help direct not “who I am” but “how I am”. Creativity encourages me to make things that are both serious and silly. Loyalty pushes me to show up for my meaningful relationships and to love the full spectrum of others, both their best and my not-so-favorite qualities. Discipline helps me follow through, prioritize caring for my body, and maintain my daily tempo through small, realistic goals.
The reality is we are always ourselves, but never the same. When we accept that the self is fluid, we gain freedom to evolve, to step into new roles, and to release old ones. We can fail today and grow tomorrow, or not. I think we cling to productivity because life is short, and achievement feels like a way to be remembered: but being known and being loved are both ways to create a sense of permanence.
So, what does this balance look like for you? At some stages, it will mean studying, building a career, and achieving goals. In other times, caregiving, rest, healing, or simply existing may take precedence. Roles will change; your worth will not. No amount of output can quantify your value. So, try to step out of your head and experience the miracle of being alive. You are more than what you produce. You always have been.
Morgan R., Florida State University
Connect With Us
To follow IfYoureReadingThis at FSU on Instagram, get in touch with our chapter, and learn about more resources available to FSU students, visit our chapter’s homepage.
AUTHOR CONTACT
This author has opted to allow readers who resonate with their story to contact them. If you would like to speak to the author of this letter about their experience, please use the form below.
