Figuring out who you are:
Before you have the chance to embark upon this self developing journey you have to figure out who you are currently and who you want to be in the future. In order for this to be a success you have to be brutally honest with yourself. The negative and toxic traits is nothing to be ashamed of, in fact the more open you are with being aware that this is something you have within you the easier it is for yourself to detach from this. Being aware of why you feel the emotions you do and react in the manner that you do is also important. In general, through having a social understanding to how you are as an individual, in particular the negative times, will enable you to progress and improve yourself.
The most important thing to accept is that you can change if you really want to change. You must want it for yourself now and for your future self. Through accepting that this is currently how you are, but this is not how you want to be, will enable you to create steps to make future you possible. Generational curses and toxic relationships are inevitable, it is how you are as a person responding to these situations and being accepting that this is how life operates. As soon as you accept negativty and people who are not well for you as being a developing journey for you it will enable you to transitition into a wiser individual.
In order for you to grow as an individual you must be clear with knowing how you are currently. Through having this awareness you can make a comparison to the person that you want your future person to be. What would they wear? How would they act? Why are they going through this self transition? Who will they be surrounded by? Will they uphold certain skills and characteristics? How would they respond to any given situations? What relationships do they have with others? Why do they act this way? Questions as outlined enable you to figure out how you can begin to transition to the person you 'dream' to become.
What do you want in life?
Everyone has different visions of what they wish to accomplish in life. This is a personal experience for each individual and must be personal for yourself. You must want this journey for yourself to give both being motivated and disciplined to stay consistent in reaching your aims. There will be times where you will have self doubt and question yourself, however it will be your own belief that will enable you to create the dream life. You must always remember that your future self will be proud of yourself and thankful that you have created this life for yourself!
Before making any specific goals or aims to achieve you need to understand the purpose of your own life. This can be an continuous journey that you will embark upon but it will enable you to figure out who you are as an individual. Through understanding how you wish to improve and in particular what areas you want to improve upon makes this journey more simple. Awareness of skills or personal traits you want to develop will enable you to create the life you want. It is important to have an understanding of what these developments will be so you will be able to think of strategies to develop this.
Every day you should be working towards one of your goals or developing skills enabling future you to be proud of yourself. For example, this can be something simple such as reading the Bible for 15 minutes ensuring you are reaching your goal of building a closer relationship with God and your spiritual connection. Through having a clear idea of what areas of your life you want to embark a self-awareness journey upon will enable you to improve your character and making your life as you wish it to be. You have to be brutally honest with what you want and even reflect upon what you currently have and have had. If you want your future self to be financially independent then you know you need streams of income that will be enough to make you financially free. This will then enable you to dive deeper into how you will get to that stage and give yourself a timescale to complete that goal.
Who are you currently?
Accepting who you are today is important. Activities such as journalling or making note of your emotions for the day is a great way to track who you are currently. There are many different questions that you can ask yourself daily, working on different emotions or purchasing books to help you reflect upon everyday. Through having an awareness of who you are today, the emotions felt, the daily routine you have, the attitude to life and your purpose will enable you to compare to who you want to become. For those who work full time you can think about whether this is something you see yourself progressing in? Does it make you happy? Are you financially thriving? When you ask yourself questions as mentioned and you do not feel satisfied with the answers it gives the opportunity for you to ask more from the job you are currently at or begin to find something that will enable you to grow as an individual. It is not as simple to quit your current job and try to get a new job, but to do something about your current situation is a step of improving your current situation.
In assessing who you currently are will be more simple for yourself through creating categories for development. Some include financial, spiritual, educational/employment, relational, mental and physical. Make some time to think about each category and how you currently are in relation to this. For example you are not consistent with your fitness journey, you do not have a food routine or you feel overwhelmed with the entire healthy attire. Through having awareness that you need to improve in a specific area you can begin to make goals that will enable you to achieve the current climate. If you struggle to stay consistent with your fitness journey it may be because you do not have set days or routines to work upon, through working out on specific days and body parts you will hold yourself accountable. Therefore, on days when you feel demotivated or restless you feel obliged to stick to the routine that you follow by. Through understanding who you currently are and creating goals to develop into your future self you are transitioning!
Who do you want to become in the future?
Following on from the previous point in order for you to become who you see as your ideal self you must be aware of who you are currently. Through making the comparison of you and your future self you can begin to set goals and timelines for you to transition. As the example on the gym outlines the more specific and simple you are in setting goals will enable you to make that transition into your future self. The important skills you must develop to enable you to become your ideal self are motivation, discipline, and consistency. In order for you to thrive as an individual the operation of all three skills will enable you to excel.
Not everyone will be motivated, disciplined and consistent with working towards their future self everyday. It is impossible with the unpredictability of life. However, it is important that the operation of two out of the three skills are performed. This enables you to still be working on you but not to the level of what you want to be. As long as you accept that you can not be 100% dedicated to growth at all times but willing to spend some time developing yourself it is an achievement. Through developing daily habits and ensuring that you are creating a routine your future self will be proud of you.
Development is doing something that you currently are not doing or have not done previously. However, if you have done this previously but stopped this counts as a restart. For you becoming someone that you want to either working upon your mental, physical or financial categories it is important to recognise that it will be difficult. There will be moments where you feel defeated or there has been no progress, but remembering the three skills remain aware to uphold at least two of those skills. For growth to be clear there is no time frame for how long this journey will be. As already mentioned this is a private and personal journey for yourself, there will be things you will want to work upon that another does not need to. It is important not to compare your journey to another individual as well as feel you are not going at the same pace of development. Focus on yourself for your future self.
Inspiration:
Everyone will be inspired by someone or something. Use that as a chance to be inspired and influenced by the way they live their life, but do not compare yourself to them. You are unique, you are special and you are uncomparable. To whatever you may use as a reference for you to find yourself put yourself in the position to be better. Despite being inspired by this, the comparison will have someone else that they are comparing themselves to become. It is a cycle of constantly wanting to develop and improve, that is why it is so important to not get distracted into wanting to become that person. There is a stark difference in being inspired by someone else and wanting to be that person or thing.
Through being inspired by someone or something you will begin to notice traits and qualities about them. They may have a routine that they follow or show they are passionate about the work that they do. For example, Steve Harvey is an inspirational motivator because he talks about the realities of life, the struggles that he has endured and how he has became a success from believing in himself. It makes you recognise whether these are traits that you personally want to develop. Through him being confident, honest and appreciative of life you can determine whether you currently are like that or want to develop those qualities. If you are yet to develop these qualities you can begin to determine how you will test yourself to have this. It is therefore important that you can recognise you are lacking of something but accept the challenge to develop it.
Strategies for self development:
There are many different strategies for self development. Depending upon how you want to develop yourself and what categories you are working upon will determine how you will get to this stage. I will list underneath two examples of ways to embark upon the 'finding yourself' journey and how this should make you feel. However, there are different ways that will enable you to challenge yourself and hold yourself accountable for becoming the best version of yourself.
Self Reflection: As this entire article aims to teach you, you must reflect on your current state in order for you to develop. Through being socially aware in how you act with other individuals and situations you can make a strategy in how you will respond differently. No one is perfect, you can become tested and ultimately regret how you respond. However, it is important that you try to be who you want to become every single day. For example, if you set goals to save a certain amount of money you will budget and ensure you are keeping on track to what you want to save. However, if you want to work upon your responses to negative situations there will be times when you are tested unexpectedly and you can see first hand whether the current methods you are using are working or not. It is important that you are open to changing your current system if that does not enable you to become your future self.
Reading: Through reading books of self development and financial advice will enable you to find yourself. There are many books by those with experience and degrees that will enable you to reflect on yourself and want you to change. Many aim to make you realise that it is possible to transition into someone that you want to become but you must be accepting that this journey is not simple. You can not just give up when life gets a bit difficult or you sit and question whether you are capable of becoming that person. In order for you to find yourself and transition into someone that you want to become you must be accepting of the current situation and want to become someone better. Even if other people do not believe in you, you must believe in yourself.
In order to find yourself be accepting of who you currently are and who you want to become in the future. The more simple you break down the bridge between both the easier the journey will be for yourself. You may find it an enjoying experience for you to develop upon, and want to exceed your initial expectations. Do not rush the journey that you will begin. At the right time you will get to where you need to be.
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