"Action steps."
Finding yourself means paying attention to who you are now, reflecting on yourself and your actions, as well as knowing who you want to become.
To find yourself means to look behind what you see in the mirror.
It’s a life-long journey, that is exciting and surprising. There will always be new things that you are going to discover about yourself, if you are willing to consciously go on that journey and become mindful of your personality, behaviours, habits, strengths, weaknesses and feelings.
You can consciously choose to do certain things / take action to discover more about yourself. Then there are situations, that accidentally reveal more about who you are, or you will be blessed with other people who see and tell you about certain traits that you have / things that you do, things that make you, you.
In this case, when other people tell you things that they recognized about you, it’s important to not just take it as they say it, but also reflect on what you think of it as well, because nobody knows you better than yourself.
If what they say is positive, be grateful for the positive feedback, be happy that they appreciate you. If it’s negative feedback, be grateful for it too, because now you might know what you could work on. But in both cases: Don’t forget to reflect on the words that have been said to you. This is an important point, that can’t be forgotten on the journey to find yourself. In the end, nobody knows you better than you, yourself!
Always remember, nobody is perfect, but we can all try to be better.
Now you might think “Yes Megan, that all sounds fine, but what can I do?”
First of all, let’s think about what I mentioned in my last post. “Action cures fear.”
Fear is something that is holding us back a lot. It can hold us back from becoming / figuring out who we really are or finding out more about ourselves, because we are trying to avoid certain situations.
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How are you supposed to know what you are capable of, if you haven’t tried it before?
Put yourself in a situation that is new to you. I will give you five examples for actions you can take.
1.) If you feel like you can’t go a day without your phone, do exactly that – go a day without your phone.
How does it feel? How are your interactions with other people? Do you like it? Would you do it again?
2.) Take a class you have never taken before. Maybe there is a class you dreamed of taking for a while, maybe to learn a new language, a certain skill, maybe a dance class. Be brave, sign up for that class and try it! If you feel like you can’t do it by yourself, look for an accountability partner. Somebody who maybe even joins you or just encourages you and checks if you actually went.
3.) Speak your mind.
This is a tough one. I myself have been there so many times – there was something that bothered me, something I really needed to say, or something I really disagreed with, but I didn’t speak my mind, because I was scared. Yes, those scenarios are not comfortable, but it’s worth to overcome this fear and speak your mind. As hard as it may be, you will feel much better afterwards.
4.) Switch up your habits.
Try to create a daily routine, wear an outfit that you usually wouldn’t wear, because you are afraid of people’s reactions, try to live without something you think you can't live without (e.g. coffee, make up, cigarettes, tv, etc.)
5.) You don’t like your job? You feel uncomfortable in your apartment? Your city?
Move on. Be brave. Look for new opportunities or challenges.
All these points are just examples. You can always add more.
I just mentioned these to give you ideas. I hope to hear from your action steps! Enjoy the journey & the new challenges.