Old Tom vs New Tom

Have we met?
If so, you've met Old Tom.

Old Tom is me prior to now.

New Tom is the current version (and author of this post).

Why the distinction?

"Old Tom" is a label I've used in reference to myself in conversations with people I've had lasting relationships with. Friends, family, employers.

Talking About My (old) Self

I occasionally find myself talking about the "Old Tom" version of myself to convey a point about how I've changed. Yeah, I actually use the words "Old Tom". I think it's kinda funny to third-person myself like that.

I've dug up Old Tom a few times recently with my boss. Earlier in my career, I think most who knew me would agree I was laser-focused on upward mobility. I've known my current boss for almost 7 years now, and he knows about my ambitions well.

While my ambitions are still important to me today, I'm in less of a rush than I was before. In the heyday of Old Tom, career growth was practically all that mattered. I did find success and am happy with the results Old Tom got me, but some things suffered as a result. More about that in a sec.

Climbing the career ladder to... heaven?

Old Tom was focused on getting promoted, managing more people, and having more authority. This leads to additional responsibilities, learning new things, tackling new challenges.

Sounds like a recipe for success, right?

Well, there's only so much time in the day, so unfortunately I had to make trade-offs (this is especially clear in hindsight). To make room for all this new stuff, I put existing priorities in the back seat. My primary job function, my existing staff. Little things like that.

New Tom, it so happens, is more focused on doing a good job within one specific area.

So when I talk to my boss today, I occasionally remind him that my priorities are to do the best I can with what my current responsibilities. And that I'm not going to try to take over the world again like Old Tom would have.

Is this the right approach? I don't know, but it makes sense for me right now. In the future, you can ask New Tom how things went.

But I didn't write this to explore my own personal ambitions. 

I wrote this to reflect on something that's important to New Tom. If you're anything like Old Tom, you may benefit from my new perspective.

Personal Evolution is the phrase I'm going with

Personal Evolution is my all-encompassing term for self-improvement, growth, learning and experience.

Do we all grow naturally over time? Or only those who try? Maybe some of us even regress. I'm not sure, but one thing is clear: those of us who focus on personal evolution will experience the most growth.

Actual photos of my own personal evolution. Look how far I've come!

And I have to admit, I haven't always thought this way. I mean I was never anti growth. But I never focused on it either. 

New Tom has, for the past several years, been a person constantly evolving for the better.

Prior to that, Old Tom was doing fine. He just wasn't growing much as a person. Partly because I wasn't trying. I was just living life (#yolo). Worse, some of my beliefs limited growth opportunities. 

I don't know what changed my perspective. Maybe deep reflection or some self improvement books or podcasts. Maybe I just grew up a bit. 

Regardless, it's been eye-opening to think that I can change and grow and become better at some things, or good at things I never thought I'd be able to do because of my perceived strengths and weaknesses.

With newfound recognition that I can evolve personally, those self-imposed strengths and weaknesses don't matter as much. They don't put me in a box anymore. Because knowing they can be changed is what prevents them from defining me. 

And now I get to define myself.

Since I've adopted this mindset, I've tried & learned new things that put me out of my comfort zone (like writing a blog lol). I've found goal setting to be a useful tool for me. I've even begun creating annual goals for myself, now that I'm getting some momentum. And I gotta say, it feels great.

Honestly I have a goal of publishing 12 blog posts in 2021, and here we are with #3 and it's September (but I think I can still get it done). Despite having over 30 posts stalled in various draft stages, I was able to conjure this one from scratch today. It came easily because I've been thinking this way for years and believe in it strongly.

So it's safe to say I'll keep trying new things and continuing to evolve as a person and learn from my experiences. Do you already think this way, or think there's any merit to it?

Without personal evolution, I'd always be Old Tom. And you'd always be Old You.