What Makes You YOU

What defines each of us varies over time, based on your priorities, and how you want to project yourself to others.

The aspects of yourself that define you include your
·      Opinions
·      Actions
·      Thoughts
·      Appearance
·      Personality
·      Abilities
·      Your work
·      Relationships
·      Self-image
·      Beliefs
·      Perceptions
·      Experiences
·      Defects
·      Imperfections
·      Flaws
·      Desires
·      Scars
·      Personal conflicts and difficulties
·      Hardships
·      Talents
·      Emotions
And more

All of these make up how you think about yourself as well as how others form their opinions of you. What makes you unique, therefore, is entirely up to you and how you wish to define yourself.

Unfortunately, most of what creates unhappiness and insecurity in our world today is the result of how we allow others to perceive us and what we are willing to accept as others’ opinions of ourselves. When you learn to accept that it is your own definition of identity and what you value and believe that defines you, you can learn to be comfortable with the unique aspects yourself.

When you are able to accept and value what you believe to be important in life, versus what others’ or social norms say are important, you can develop an inner peace and inspiration that provides you with self-confidence. But, the first step to knowing this important information is understanding yourself.

Be Honest With Yourself
If you want to discover the many interesting and unique aspects of who you are, you have to be willing to be completely honest with yourself. That includes acknowledging and understanding the positive and negative aspects of your personality.
If you are not honest with yourself, you’ll never really know the deepest recesses of your personality that are a part of you, nor will you ever be able to make changes that can help you achieve everything you want in life.

The Benefits Of Knowing Yourself
Over centuries, many great philosophers and thinkers have advocated for the importance of knowing oneself. Perhaps the best known of these is Socrates, who famously wrote, “Know thyself.” What does it really mean, though, to know yourself?

Let’s consider getting to know yourself kind of like dating. While learning the favorite color or taste in music of the person you are dating can be somewhat helpful information, those things don’t really tell you anything meaningful about who that person is.

If you really want to know who that person is, you want to dig deeper to get to understand their motivations, ambitions, values, and vulnerabilities. Those things are, after all, what tell you who someone really is, right? The same is true for getting to know yourself.

Self-exploration requires you to confront all aspects of yourself, from the positives and gifts to the insecurities and fears. Each of these plays a role in formulating who you are, so they each deserve attention and understanding.
​
Most of us tend to just go through life without really questioning who we are or worrying too much about questions of identity. A lack of self-reflection can force you into a life of constant reaction to events rather than making conscious choices that are aligned with what you believe and want in life.

When you don’t examine yourself, you can lose sight of your goals and dreams, leading to missed opportunities in life that could impair your happiness and fulfillment.

What benefits can come from an in-depth exploration of yourself? The list is nearly endless, but there are a few very significant benefits you can experience, but I'll cover those in the next post.

Questions or comments? Leave them below and tell me what you think.