Do you know who you are?
If you were sitting in a class and a teacher asked, “Tell me who you are,” you may answer back, “A student,” or “A daughter,” or “a ball player.” All of these are answers are true to some extent, as being these titles are a part of who you may consider yourself to be. However, when was the last time that you sat down and asked yourself:
“What do I value? What are the core values and character traits that help guide who I am as a person? How do I act in the ways that are true to what I value?”
This is a pretty serious question to ask yourself. However, becoming great at anything involves asking some serious questions along the way. This Journey of Self Discovery as we will call it, requires honesty and holding yourself accountable to your standards and values. And the first step in this journey is to honestly evaluate yourself and the values you hold.
Now, if you are an athlete and you are reading this you may be thinking, “What does finding out what I value and who I am have to do with me doing well in sports or my job?” The truth is – it has everything to do with it. When you are in times of stress, when you need to be at your best and you feel that the pressure is on, you need to be the person you really are and have trained to be when it is time to perform. This could be performing in a competition, work, or dealing with stressful situations at home. Can you be the ideal person you want to be when you need to be? Or do you get so overwhelmed and stressed that you lose sight of who you are and can’t compete when the pressure is on?
Whether you do this frequently or every once in a great while, we all have been there before. SO…let’s take the first step in your Journey of Self Discovery get started with identifying your values.
Here is a list of the 30 most commonly held values and character traits across the globe. Identify the 5 that most define who you are when you are at your best:
Accountable, Adaptable, Ambitious, Awareness, Balance, Caring, Committed, Compassion,
Competitive, Competence, Courage, Humble, Honest, Family, Friendship, Generous
Independent, Leader, Listening, Openness, Perseverance, Power, Recognition , Reliable
Risk Taking, Self-Discipline, Teammate, Trust, Vision, Wisdom
So now that you have identified what your character traits are and values that matter to you, ask yourself this question:
When times get tough, and you need to be at your best, are you still the person that respects the traits that make you your best self? Are you still courageous or do you get nervous? Are you still compassionate or do you lash out at others?
If you can answer these questions honestly, then you have taken your first step towards self discovery. If you are having a hard time answering these questions, that’s okay! Think about who you really are, who you want to be, and what matters to you – and discover your values. It is the first step to discovering who you are and are you guiding principles in living your life to the fullest.
Remember to follow Achievement Consulting on Twitter @achievementllc and if you want to connect with us, just email chris@achievementllc.com