When little I graduated kindergarten from a military school, called Southern California Military Academy. At that time I had my public speaking debut. I recited a poem for kindergarten graduation entitled “I Want To Act Like Me.” It went like this:
Some say I act like my mother
Some say I act like my father
Some say I act like my Aunt Bee
But I want to act like me
This wasn’t just a poem for me, as a child I knew in my heart I wanted to be me. I longed to be who I was are apart from who others thought I should be. That longing still burns inside me today.
In order be more like one’s own self there are five things that I suggest we cultivate.
Creativity
The world that applies pressure to us to be like it. It’s can be challenging to be and act like your own self. There are messages and stories designed to capture our attention so that we think we need to be like someone else.When we are around family or friends people compare us with others which can cause confusion with who we really are. We have aims and goals others don’t understand. The give opinions and suggestions out of love and concern but don’t take the time to understand our heart.
So in order to be more like ourself we must imagine who we are who we we aspire to be and create that. Regardless of what others think or say we ought to be. It takes creativity to act like yourself.
There are two simple things we can do to act like ourself. First, remember impactful stories that about us that resonate in our mind and write them down. Write down our major accomplishments and why we accomplished it. Write down our most shaping events that took place in life and how we responded to it. This will help us to understand who we were in the past which will gauge who you want to be now and in the future. Second, in 10 words or less write out the vision for your life. We can use your history of accomplishments to assist us to write 10 words which represents what we like to create.
Confidence
In order to be like ourselves it takes confidence.In order to be like ourselves it takes confidence. For some, confidence is easy; it comes natural but for others it’s a daily cultivation. One way that we can improve our confidence is like what Brian Tracy and Michael Tracy spells out in the book Unlimited Sales Success who suggests we say the four words, “I can do it.” If or when we lack confidence to act and be ourselves speak these or other affirmative words.
Cultivation
Learning to act like ourself will take tending. It is a growth process. Acting like ourself is not a one time occurrence; it happens continually. Therefore, it is important to cultivate certain character so that when the time comes for us to behave and believe after your own mold, WE WILL. Read widely to know what we think about various topics so that we’re ready to stand firm on our own beliefs and behaviors. Journal as often as we can so that we become a student of our very own mind and emotions. These are ways to cultivate an understanding of self.
Confinement
Sometimes we have to be isolated in order to figure out who we are. Once we’re able to figure out who we are then we’ll be able to act like ourself. It’s through times of silence solitude that our heart whispers and our mind opens to the deep portal that connects us to our inner life. Most of the time we’ve got many distractions taking time away from reflection.
Sit alone for a time. A day. A week. A month. Turn off social media and the phone. Sit with Self.
Community
We need community to find ourself too. Confinement and community are two sides to the same coin.
Human beings are like words they get their meaning because of their relationship with other other words. How would I know what a word means if I didn’t have other words around the to give it meaning. I only know the word because of its relationship to other words. I know who I am because of my relationship with other people. I know that I’m a fast runner because I run faster than others. We discover ourselves within community. Seek to spend time with others, if we want to discover ourselves.
Self discovery is not just a part of life, it is life. The more I know myself the more I understand the world and others around me. Live by these five principles and you too will live a life of self discovery.
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