Are you an identity thief? Do you have multiple identities that you slip into depending on whom you’re around? Are you the good boy or girl with your parents while you’re the stern scary boss at work or the outgoing fun one when you’re out with your friends?
How many different personas do you have in your wallet? How often do you switch between them throughout the day? Do you even know which one is the true you anymore? Or are you in an identity crisis?
It’s time for you to be you and be the best you, you can be. Stop allowing society, circumstances, and the people around you to dictate who you are and what you do. Life is too short to live under the restrictions of other people’s expectations.
Throw out those false identities and half-truths. Just be you. Those people that matter and are true friends will respect and love you more. And you will be happier than you ever knew possible.
PowerTools™
1) Who are you? Write down who you are, what you stand for. Write this using the third person to help you get distance from yourself and the most out of the exercise. (For instance, instead of me writing “I am a…,” I would write “Bert is a…”)
2) Realize this “definition” of you that you just wrote down is fluid. It will change as you grow. Go back to this definition and refine it often. Each time will give you a clearer picture of yourself.
3) Whenever you find yourself in a situation where you are tempted to slip back into an old persona, look at your definition. Ask, “What would this person do in this situation?” Do it.
Live Life,
Bert Oliva