Identifying Identity
What is Identity?
Identity can be viewed as the unique puzzle pieces that when put together, make you, you.
Identity includes your memories, experiences, values, beliefs, relationships, strengths, weaknesses and many more. Your identity is something you can’t control. However, you can help it develop over time as you learn, grow and experience new things.
Identity and a Sense of ‘Self’
While your identity might not be something that you often think about, it plays an important factor in our lives. Our identity helps us make decisions and largely effects our self-worth.
Having a strong sense of self is an insight into if you have a strong sense of identity. It allows you to understand if you are living for yourself or for the people around you. Lacking a sense of self can result in a lack of direction, reliance on external influences, make you feel indecisive and can leave you feeling unsure of your direction in life.
Within a time of technology and social media it is getting increasingly harder to express your authentic identity without the pressure of social acceptance or external expectations of how and what you should value most.
Finding yourself and building your own confidence in your identity within a social world is one of the most difficult choices for any person.
How to Determine your Sense of Self and Identity
You can reflect on these questions to determine the strength of your own sense of self and identity:
- Do I say yes to make others happy?
- What are my strengths?
- What brings me happiness?
- What are my values and do I live my life with these values in mind?
- Do my values reflect my own interests or the interests of someone else?
If you find yourself unsure of your answers to these questions, you might need to learn how to further develop your sense of self and thus, reinforce your own identity.
It is very common to feel like you are unsure of who you are and the purpose of your life. It is okay and being unsure will help you be able to identify areas you can work on and build up.
