Question:Who am I?

Who am I?

How many times have you deemed it fit to ask yourself this question?

How many times has any one ever questioned your very own existence?

How many times have you questioned why you’re on this earth?

For me, the answer is uncountable.

The question itself makes me ask other questions.

Can I ever know who I am?

Why do I need to know who I am?

Will any answer I get ever satisfy me?

Who am I can be said to mean what is my identity?

The answer to the “who am I” question is our identity.

Our identity is our overall system of memories, experience, feelings, thoughts, relationships, and values and lifestyles that defines who we are.

Identity is a component of getting to know who we are.

Why should we do this?

Because we can classify identity into components which are (values, experiences, relationship).

These components can be identified and understood.

Then, once we have understood the components of our identity, we can get a big-picture of looking at who we really are.

In short, we’re a lot more than one aspect of thing. We’re a whole system full of ideas and experiences.

Why do we need identity

The “Who am I?” question gets at to heart of one of our most basic needs which is our need for identity. 

As human beings, we search for and find comfort in a solid sense of identity. It moulds us and gives us confidence. Our sense of identity also touches every single thing in our lives – right from the choices we make to the values by which we live.

Wow!!!

Our identities are almost so powerful for the values that we hold and live by. Our identity is a reflection of what we see and believe, what we do, and what we basically value.

Yet, our sense of identity can be corrupted by many outside factors.

How possible is that?

Here’s the hard truth, much of our identity were forced on us. This forced identity then causes us to experience a big amount of stress.

There are 5 key steps you need to take to solve the question “who am I?” and they are;

• Reflect on yourself

According to the King of Pop,

“I’m starting with the man in the mirror.”

This advice is so true as you need to reflect upon yourself first whenever you are engaging in discovery of one's-self.

This means that you need to examine yourself — for all your strengths, weaknesses, flaws and the impressions you give others.

You have to engage with the reflection you present of yourself.

Ask this question from yourself, who am I right now?

What are your strengths? Your Weaknesses?

Do you like who you are seeing in the mirror?

Do you think that “who you are” doesn’t correlate with “who you see?”

How do you feel about that?

Identify which areas of your life you are not too happy about. Find out what you think could be better in you– mentally, emotionally, and physically.

Once you have a good grasp on yourself, then you can move on to the second step.

• Make a decision of who you want to be

You can never be a perfect person. There’s no perfect person. You have to accept the fact that you will never be perfect.

But, on the path to discovering yourself you should understand that there are things you might want to improve.

And improvement is definitely possible!

So, for the second step, what you need to do is to identify who you really want to become in life.

And try as much as possible to be honest with yourself about what’s possible and what's not. Being the All-knowing isn’t what we are after.

Who is your esteemed/perfect person?

Is it someone so kind, very strong and energetic, intelligent, brave?

Is it a person who is not afraid of any challenge? Is it a person who can open his or herself up to love?

Whoever you dream to be define them. Define who you want to be. That’s the second step.

• Always make the best choices

Make the best choices… for yourself.

The truth is, most of us are fixed to make our choices out of fear.

We instinctively make an easy choice based on pressure, anxiety, desire to please, or because we don’t want to put in the effort at all.

These choices can only do one thing, continue the status quo.

And if you’re not too happy with who you are, or with your current status quo, then these choices will do nothing to help you.

Those choices you then make, are the bad choices. 

But you can decide to choose better for yourself.

You can make “your own decisions.”

Once you know what you want, who you want to be; you can take the time to make active, conscious choices that help you be better. 

What are the choices we make like?

Maybe you want to go to school and graduate. That means you need to choose how to complete your applications, choose to ask for recommendation letters, and choose to study.

Once you make these decisions that are in line with your values and the things you want, you’ll start feeling empowered to find out who you truly are.

• Ensure you explore your passions

One of the best things about discovering the answer to “who am I,” is listing out parts of yourself that you never know about.

Sure, you’ve figured out who you “want to be” and you’ve done a very great job by “looking in the mirror,” but there’s always going to be parts of you that are hidden away from what you saw in the mirror.

And it’s your duty to discover them.

One of the best ways to help discover yourself is to know what you are passionate about and work on it.

When you engage in things that you are passionate about, you stimulate the creative energies in you.

If you’re passionate about baking, go out and bake!

But what if I don’t know what I’m passionate about?

When your identity has been built by what the society expect from you, it’s only natural that you might not know what you're really passionate about. That’s ok!

But if you have not acknowledged what you are passionate about, don’t go looking for it. Instead, build and develop it.

“What? How will I develop something I don’t even have?”

If you don’t know what you're passionate about, don’t freak out. It’s not like you're “the one,” or it's the only passion and if you can’t find it, you’ll miss out on your life. Instead, try your hand at work and projects that are available for you right now. 

Developing a mindset of growth is a key component of exploring your passions. Along the way, you’ll figure out who you are. If you’re looking for some inspiration in developing your mindset, read books on mindset growth.

• Endeavour to develop your social circle

Humans beings are social by nature and so much of our identity is shaped by our friends and family.

When you work on knowing “who you really are,” you have to actively create your social circle.

This means choosing who you want to hang out with. It means choosing who to let in, and who you let go.

It's very crucial that you find people who are in line with your values and identity.

They always say you can access a man by the company he keeps.

This is true. You can rate yourself by the people you hang out with.

If you’re hoping to develop yourself as a person, look at the kind of friends you keep.

Are they pulling you forward or drawing you back?

Your identity is an ongoing process

The task of finding out who you are isn’t an easy one.

It’s probably one of the most difficult things you’ll ever take on.

We’re dynamic! Our identities must also be dynamic too!

This article is in line with this week's prompt "Question" by @JonicaBradley

However, after going through @HappyBoy Article Titled "so many unanswered questions" I decided to jump on it.