Who are you?
Have you ever had a moment where you have suddenly questioned who you are?
Why are you here?
What your legacy will be?
I have spoken with many people who have had these thoughts during this time in our world. I have even had more people coming to me asking me to mentor them to build their own side income, knowing that part of this is discovering who you really are.
For me, these thoughts stemmed from my experience in hospital when I was stripped of everything that was me and was basically a number in a bed. Then I decided to re-define my life and spend every spare moment with family and doing good in the world.
It’s important to remember - you are not your career, your job, your Facebook profile, your Instagram account, the number of followers you have, your car, your house.
I can tell you, that being stripped of everything, and focusing every minute of every day on continuing simply to breathe, and re-learning how to sip water from a spoon, really gives you a lesson in your own inner knowing.
The pandemic is causing a lot of people to question who they really are, and what they really want - however, there is nothing like having no family and friends and absolutely no-one that knows you, with you in a time of need and great stress. I truly sympathise with those in hospital suffering from COVID because they too can’t have anyone around them. It truly is soul-crushing, however, if you can manage to find something within you to pull your mind through that, you can come out with a solid inner knowing - or at least a goal to make every moment of your life count. Time is very different for those of us who have faced the possibility of not having any more of it.
One thing this pandemic has done is give people, especially those with families, a deeper understanding of what it means to be with them, and with friends. I have seen so many people retire, move their careers to another location, and even start a home-based business, purely because they have now truly seen the importance of being with family as much as possible.
So, let's spend a few moments discovering who we truly are.....take a moment and think to yourself…..
- Who am I?
- What do I want out of life?
- What do I want to give to others?
- What legacy do I want to leave in this world?
Now, take a little longer and use the following questions to help you - really focus on the answers, and be totally honest with yourself…..write your answers in a journal or notebook:
1. Describe your personality - in only 3 words.
2. Write down 5 things that interest you the most.
3. Describe the positive & negative characteristics you see in yourself. What would you like to achieve in the next 12 months?
4. Who are the 5 closest people to you - that you spend the most time with?
5. If you listed all of your family in Question 4, who are 3 people you spend time with outside of your family.
6. List a character trait you love in each person from questions 4 & 5.
7. List any negative characteristics in each person.
8. Do any of the negative characteristics match yours?
9. If money was not an issue in your life, what would you be doing?
10. If you were gifted 5 million dollars, how would you use it to help others? Be specific!
Now look back through your answers to the questions and think about the following.
- Was it difficult for you to define your personality?
- When was the last time you participated in something that interested you?
- Was it easier to write positive or negative characteristics about yourself?
- Do the negative characteristics in others match your own? (Remember you are the average of the 5 closest people you spend your time with….Jim Rohn)
- Do you find it easy, or difficult to imagine yourself with a large amount of money?
- How did it feel to imagine yourself with money to help others? Did it fuel something in you to want to achieve that?
All too often we focus on what we don’t have, don’t look like, don’t feel, don’t do, and that completely blocks out all the good within ourselves. We just don't see it anymore.
As women and mothers, especially, our lives become based so much on making others happy, that we ignore our own needs, and our own positive attributes until we are stripped of everything around us and have to face those thoughts.
Take some time each day, even just 10 minutes a day, and read something positive, (and I don’t just mean Facebook posts), ground yourself, and smile. That simple act releases neurotransmitters that make us feel good from head to toe.
Smile daily and be proud of who you are - and who you are to become.
Naomi Dyer is a Bestselling Author, International Speaker, Internationally Certified Results Coach, entrepreneur, and cancer survivor. She's a beacon of resilience and empowerment, whose journey through adversity inspires audiences worldwide.
If you would like to learn more, see her story, or book her to speak at your event visit www.naomidyer.com.au
