“Who are you?” (Part 5)

Take the sheets of paper completed in Part 4, and copy the admired attributes onto a single sheet. What you are doing is transferring all the reasons that you admire those named people,  onto a single sheet of paper which will then provide an opportunity to remove duplicates.

For example: If you admired 3 of your people because of their selfless giving, then selfless giving only needs to be listed once, so  2 can be erased/crossed out.**

**Word Processor users can simply delete all the persons names together with any duplicate attributes.

When you have the list of admired attributes edited, scroll down.

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It will be no surprise to know that what you now have in front of you is a list of attributes which you admire in others. As long as you have followed the instructions, then what you also have in front of you is a list of attributes which are clearly important to you.

The spontaneity stressed earlier is because intuitive answers were needed. Intuitive/spontaneous answers draw out the information which is very important to you, whereas thinking about it will draw out less important factors.  If you have to think about it, how important is it really?

You can now look at that list and tell yourself “Yes… these are important factors!” So what? Scroll down a little further!

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You now have a golden opportunity to review your own life to date, against those attributes which are obviously important to you. You can ask yourself “Am I living according to those attributes?” If you are not, then you are denying yourself the opportunity to be…. you!

Because you (e.g.) admired Mother Theresa, does not mean that you should live like her. It does however mean that her principles are important to you and, to be true to yourself, you should at least demonstrate some conviction to those principles.

If you are currently focused on choosing a career path, these results are worth pondering. Most of us look at a career in the context of financial security, job satisfaction, prospects for growth within the profession etc.  However, your career could simply be a means to an end!

If you see yourself as a compassionate and giving person, but also see the Social Service field as less than ideal regarding salary, growth prospects etc., then do not go into that field. What you may wish to consider is going into a more lucrative profession, but one which gives you opportunities to pursue more rewarding interests in your free time. i.e. Use your career path to allow you to do other things which could well be more rewarding!

Contrary to my upbringing, I realized (much later) that I should not consider a career path as the sole solution to financial security, job satisfaction and personal growth. The career choice really can simply be a means to an end!

Those of us who are retirees, are no longer concerned about careers, but can still compare our current  perspectives on life, with those that are now proven as very significant to us.

Surely it is everybody’s wish to be really happy with who they are and, while this process which you have completed is not going to perform miracles, it is giving you the tools to assess the direction you should perhaps be going. You can compare that with the direction you are currently going.

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WOULDN’T IT BE WONDERFUL IF WE ADOPTED THOSE SAME ATTRIBUTES, AND COULD THEREFORE ADMIRE OURSELVES FOR THE SAME REASONS THAT WE ADMIRE THOSE OTHERS?

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Stay tuned for Part 6. Whereas this exercise is now completed, there is an enhancement for those who want to go one step further in this journey of self exploration! Based on my experience, your answer to the question “Who are you?” may well already be changing, and Part 6 may just change it a little more.

 

27 thoughts on ““Who are you?” (Part 5)”

  1. Taking the time to reflect confirmed what I knew deep down, that a fear of the unknown and of failure is stopping me from following the example set by those I admire. Thank you for prompting me to take the time to reflect and for giving me some structure as to how to go about it.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Playing “worst case scenario” can be very effective. Take one thing that you are very cautious about, and ask yourself “if I try this, what is the worst case scenario?” So often, there are no real negative significant consequences. If there are, then identifying them and working on them will move you forward. Fear of public speaking can be resolved with guidance and practice. Fear of losing friends brings the quality of friendships into question. Shouldn’t they be accepting of your imperfections? If you can overcome your various fears (by putting them into perspective), the rewards to you and your own self-value will be potentially priceless. Have a wonderful day. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  2. A great way to delve inside yourself a little deeper. There were things that didn’t surprise me, I had started seeing the connection between some of my attributes and the ones I admire. But there were also a few surprises as well. Thank you!
    I was glad to see that there is a Part 6, even if I have to wait for it. Some things are worth waiting for. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Colin, it definitely led to where I thought it would. We are admiring in others who we actually are deep inside. We have it written down with our own hands. We are in alignment with ourselves when we allow ourselves to live it! Awesome, exercise and I am looking forward to part 6.

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