#MicroblogMondays: "Diversify your identity"

A fellow CNBCer shared this article on a private forum recently. It's about identity and how so many of us wrap ourselves and our sense of value and self-worth up in one particular idea of who we are supposed to be -- a successful business man, a professional athlete.

"If you invest all of your identity in one basket, then you put your self-esteem and emotional well-being at risk," the article says.

"Many of us get fixated on certain aspects of our identity more than others. Social pressures can also force us into over-identifying with a certain aspect of our identity, which then drowns out other areas of our lives."

The article quotes Tim Ferriss, author of "The 4-Hour Work Week," who mentions a concept called “identity diversification:”

When you have money, it’s always smart to diversify your investments. That way if one of them goes south, you don’t lose everything. It’s also smart to diversify your identity, to invest your self-esteem and what you care about into a variety of different areas — business, social life, relationships, philanthropy, athletics — so that when one goes south, you’re not completely screwed over and emotionally wrecked.

Of course, the woman who posted this article (and those of us who read it) viewed it through the lens of infertility and childlessness. For all the progress women have made in so many spheres, many of us still stake a huge part of our identity and self-worth on motherhood and our children. What happens when that particular part of our life vanishes (when the children grow up and leave the nest) -- or (in the case of infertility & loss) never materializes to begin with?

Read the article & tell me -- what do you think?

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.