But please, exclude all your professional achievement.

We have all answered this ‘tell me about yourself’ question before, often in the context of interviews and at networking events. What is your story though, if you take the professional portion out of it?

The question then forces you to tell a story about who you are, not what you do. I bet many would argue what they do is very much who they are, we have been dedicating our whole life to shape our professional self after all. We have been asked "what do you want to be when you grow up?" since we went to nursery/ kindergarten. My nephew - aged 3, said he wants to be a T-Rex, what a great answer!

My career break has not only given me time to think about grand things such as "my identity as an immigrant", but also about who I am beyond work (okay, still a "grand" thing). I became aware that it takes a lot more energy to live your everyday when you do not have a routine.  When you do not have work to hide behind, you need to actively think of how to make your time well spent. It takes active participation and courage to pursue/ to discover something beyond the ‘traditional’ and ‘linear’ track.

I am fortunate enough to be doing this in New York City, where there are more than enough to explore. I just want to encourage everyone to actively invest in a self outside of work, so that one day, when you are interviewed by Humans of New York, you will have a fascinating story to tell. Perhaps more importantly, to have a life to live for yourself.

We should all be a little bit more like my nephew.