Trying to discover yourself and who you are can be fundamental for you life and prosperity, giving you a sense of self and security, helping you in your journey, or even assisting in figuring out some of your most important goals. Whatever your reasons are for diving into the process of finding yourself, let’s dive right into it and discover who you are!
Identity is a tricky topic
Obviously, identity can be a difficult topic to approach. Everyone’s identity is a bit different, and the answer to the question of “who are you” is different for everyone. So, acknowledging that, let’s proceed with that in mind. This is all specific to you, so take everything with a grain of salt.
If You’re Young, You Won’t Find Out For A While
As rough as it may be for some of my readers, you won’t find out who you are for a while if you’re very young. That’s not to say you can’t be successful or contribute a lot at a young age – you obviously can. However, it takes time to find out who you are, what you want, and who you want to become. It’s okay to take this slow and learn who you are through experience rather than try to fit yourself into some sort of mold.
You Have To Test The Waters First
With all things in life, you need to test out different things in order to find out more about yourself. I’m not necessarily suggesting that you should dabble and never excel in any specific thing. Rather, trying out different activities and hobbies can be useful because it can teach you more about yourself and what you love the most.
Face Your Fears
Let’s face it (get it?), we all have to face our fears at some point. Getting a head start and facing them early will just set you up for more success later on. You don’t have to completely get over your fears – just learn how to handle them. The more you face your fears, the more you’ll get used to them. As you get used to them, the less of an impact they can have over your life. Beyond that, knowing you fears can help identify your limitations, which can let you know when you need to draw a line.
Examine Your Strengths And Weaknesses
If you have wise people willing to give you advice or constructive criticism, you should listen to it. There is no shame in getting help or wisdom from others, and it’s important to listen and grow because of it. In fact, if you have someone in your life who can give you great feedback, then you’re lucky and should take advantage of that luxury – it can help steer you in the right direction. Furthermore, take that to heart and use it to learn your strength and weaknesses. You can capitalize on your strengths and find ways to fix or limit your weaknesses.
It’s Okay To Be Uncomfortable
A lot of people like to avoid being uncomfortable. Unfortunately, life is just uncomfortable at times. It’s perfectly okay to be uncomfortable, in fact it can be necessary! When you put yourself in uncomfortable situations you have the most potential to grow. Don’t avoid uncomfortable situations just because they’re uncomfortable.
Imagine Your Ideal Life And Compare It To Your Current One
When in doubt, write a letter about where you currently are to your past self. On one hand, this can help you identify your shortcomings and how you aren’t where you wish you were. However, on the other hand, this can also help you realize how far you come – which can help encourage you to keep growing like you have been.
On top of that, you can write a letter to your future self. This can be a big boon in the goal-setting process, as it forces you to begin thinking about what you want long-term and where you want to be. Setting those goals can then help you get the ball rolling in the present!
Take A Look At Who You Surround Yourself With
Surrounding yourself with people you respect will challenge you to keep growing. This may be professionally, but it may also be in more personal and emotional ways. The point is, when you surround yourself with good people, they will push you to be good too. Likewise, if you surround yourself with successful people, they will push you and help you become successful as well. So, surround yourself with the type of people you want to be more like, and you’ll find yourself in a great, rewarding community.
Always Keep Learning
It’s important to new stop learning new skills or about different topics. Shoring up your weak points can make you stronger overall, and constantly honing your skills and knowledge base can help you succeed in many aspects of your life.
Read Daily
All of your experiences help shape you into the person you are, and all of them teach you valuable skills. Believe it or not, you can end up picking up a lot of useful information and skills through reading. At a minimum, reading can expand your vocabulary and show you new perspectives and ideas that you hadn’t considered. To some people, that may not sound like much. However, better vocabulary makes you a much better communicator, and being introduced to new ideas and perspectives can have a positive impact on both your soft skills (again, like communication), as well as your general attitude towards life.
You Can Always Change
Bad habits are like a plague that will slow you down and leave you worse off. Do your best to get rid of them. Now, getting rid of bad habits is probably harder than building good ones, but it’s still possible. Identify your problem areas, and set goals surrounding them so you can break free – it’s all about the discipline to stay consistent even when it gets hard!
The “secrets” to financial success seem to always just be out of reach of most people. Yet, somehow, there seems to be a huge supply of financially successful people who enjoy a comfortable lifestyle and their numbers increase every day. Fortunately, I spoke to many well-off individuals and discussed some of the habits and skills they had to develop to get where they are today.
Conclusion
Clearly these aren’t all the things you’ll need to know as you find yourself and who you are, but they’re certainly a good start. If you have any of your own you’d like to share, please mention them in the comments.
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