Who is the real you? Is it the struggling person at home with your spouse and kids that is quiet and reserved and doesn’t share your feelings? Or maybe the successful person at work who leads and encourages others while solving problem after problem? What about that image in your head, the person that has made mistakes, failed, and can’t seem to figure out how to flourish? Is that the real you? The easy answer is they are all a little bit you but who is the real you?
The Old You
Every day our lives are changing. No matter what age we are, we are learning new things and reshaping who we are based on new information and experiences. We adapt to the situations we face and incorporate data from succeeding and failing. We form ideas of who we are based on the past, who we were at certain moments of our lives. The memories of mistakes made replay through our minds and we start to see ourselves as a failure. We also can swell up with pride when we have success and let that overpower our vision of ourselves to the point of becoming conceited. Whether they were wins or losses, they are in the past and do not have to define who you really are.
The Current You
When someone asks who you are, you usually answer with a description of yourself as a sort of sum of experiences, knowledge, and traits that we determine in our minds is who we are. How much of that is accurate though? Maybe you just had a rough patch at work or at home and are lacking the capability to see clearly who the real you is. We do change over time so we need to be aware that the person we currently are isn’t the same as a year ago or who we will be next year. That should give you great hope in the fact that even though you may have regrets, you can make changes to grow and become a better version of yourself in the future.
The Future You
Do you know what the future you will look like? Many of us have never thought of it before but I want to challenge you as you read this to start creating a picture of who you want to be in the future. A great way to do this is by putting together a vision board. This can be done by cutting out words and images from magazines or newspapers or you can make a digital vision board using your favorite image software is. The vision board should have images and words that express who you want to be. Maybe you want to be more confident, motivated, or healthier, whatever it is you want for your life should be prominent on the board. Be intentional about who you are becoming. If you don’t have a vision of the person you would like to be, how will you be able to know what to strive towards.
A Little About Me
For most of my life, I never really thought much about who I was in the past, present, or becoming in the future. I was just reacting to life as it came and didn’t have clarity on the person that I wanted to be. I had a great job but sort of resented the fact that I never followed my passion. I wasn’t fulfilled with the things I was doing and the reason was due to never creating a vision for who I wanted to be. My vision board is now filled with speakers, writers and thought leaders that I aspire to be like. I know I want to become a person that is inspirational, motivational, passionate and fulfilled. The only way I will be able to do that is to go after the vision I laid out for myself. I won’t consider it a failure if I never get to do a TED talk. I won’t be disappointed if I don’t ever get my book published. But I will regret if I don’t run after those things in an effort to be the person I want to be.
Connect
If you are unsure about how to get started creating a vision for your life, I’d love to chat with you to help get you started. You can contact me through Instagram or Facebook or by using the form below.
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