Owning Your Identity in the Digital Age

who am i

what am i doing with my life these are

two

typical standard existential questions

that are raised at some point

in our lifetime however nowadays

these questions are raised a little bit

more often than usual why

because of one culprit media

more specifically social media

social media is a catch-22

i mean it gives us connections

information

exposes us to worlds that we do not know

existed but on the other hand

it is a breeding ground for anxiety

depression low esteem

it leads people to questioning their

very existence

it leads people to challenging

their own value and worth

now if you’re a social media user i want

you to think about it

have you asked yourself any of the

following questions or

just had any of the following thoughts

i’m not good enough i’m not worthy

enough not wealthy enough

not fun enough not deserving enough

not popular enough

it’s pretty common that after you finish

scrolling or even while you’re scrolling

these comparative self-degenerative

thoughts arise this is why today i’m

going to be talking to you about

understanding and owning who you are in

this digital age

because my name is tiffany wright

and i am a self-love ambassador and a

mental health professional

and in my work i am so passionate

about helping individuals explore who

they are and create

meaning from life because this is what

makes humans so unique

we get the opportunity to ask questions

and we get to create purpose in

our lives but social media

it compromises this natural progression

that we go through throughout the case

of our lives

and they constantly have this going

inward thinking that we’re not good

enough

now when individuals come working with

me and they want to

ask or answer these questions

i love encouraging introspection and

reflection

through writing journaling and other

arts-based interventions

i facilitate an experience where

individuals have a mind-body

spirit connection in their therapeutic

process

get them to a place where they really

can connect with themselves

understand who they are understand their

power

so today as i share with you 10

questions that i give my clients when

they’re wanting to do work around esteem

and identity

i want to encourage you to have an open

mind

and open heart and as you move forward

in your day in your life beyond this

talk

i want to encourage you to take time

to reflect on who you are and the value

that you

add to this world so take a deep breath

ready question one

what brings me joy if you understand

what brings you joy you’re starting off

really well

think of the people the places the

experiences the activities

that bring you a sense of enjoyment

allows you to be free relieve you of

the thoughts around responsibility the

worries and concerns of the day

because when you’re in joy you are in

your purest

potential of lived experience

question two what are five emotional

experiences that you

want to cultivate as often as possible

these can be really anchoring for you as

you move through life making decisions

maneuvering your relationships thinking

about your environments your

challenges if you know what you want to

constantly experience

as often as possible then you can be

intentional

about what you allow in your life what

you nurture in your life

what you give your attention to question

number three

which is one of my favorites what are

your

five core values now of course you can

have

more than five values but your core

values

these are the concepts that really drive

you

they drive your emotional experiences

they drive

how you show up in the world what you

allow in

what you might want to keep out they

impact how you feel about yourself

question number four

what are five strengths now these are

intrinsic characteristics or skills that

you bring to the world

so we’re not talking about aesthetics

here okay but

five strengths what are five areas of

opportunities

not weaknesses but areas of

opportunities areas that you can grow

characteristics or behaviors that you

have that might get you in your own way

or keep you from living a life that you

could live otherwise

but there are areas that you can

strengthen

what makes you unique there’s something

so

special about who you are

there’s something that allows people to

be open to you

that allows them to want you in their

space

to share time with you what is it that

you find that

you contribute to your community to your

family

to your school to your workplace this is

just

what makes you you what are three

life-shaping beliefs that you hold

about yourself see life is partly yes

what occurs outside of us but it’s very

much also about our responses

and how we respond is often based on our

perception

and our thoughts so if you’re in tune to

what

really impacts how you interact with the

world

you’ll get a lot of insight as to maybe

why you do certain things why you avoid

certain things

why you lean into certain experiences

etc

what are major roles

that are important to you

now these could be family based roles

like sister brother cousins

this can also be roles in your

profession

in your school but can also be

character-based roles

are you the hero the funny person are

you the encourager

are you the accountability partner

this allows you to really get insight

into

what you like owning what you like

leaning into

and the last two questions my favorites

aside from the values of course what is

your personal mission

just like corporations people humans can

have missions

what drives you what do you want to

leave this world with what’s the legacy

that you would like to build

what do you want to contribute what are

you doing this all for

and then lastly what is your purpose

i might say tiffany my purpose is just

to live

well i want to challenge you on that

because

everything living existing has a

function

has a purpose you’re not here by

coincidence

you’re not here to just exist you

are here and can live in a way where you

actually really live life

if you’re in tune to the joy and what

you want to experience and your values

and what matters to you

you can be more intentional about what

you allow in your life

what you give attention to you

understand your strengths and your areas

of opportunities you can walk

in confidence and also understand that

you

have areas to grow in you know what

makes you unique

you know what your mission is you know

what your purpose is

you have something to drive you and

consistently

propel you through life no matter

what you see no matter what exists on

your screens

no matter what people are telling you

see these questions are unique

because when people think of who am i

and their identity

they think of the labels that other

humans have constructed

to understand humans it’s not a holistic

approach to understanding self

because you’re more than your sexuality

your gender

your ethnicity your nationality your

religious beliefs

your cultural affiliations those things

might be very important to you

but who you are goes beyond that

so as you digest these questions

i want to encourage you to continue to

move forward

creating space for intentional

introspection

and learning how to connect to yourself

because

with so many ideas around who you should

be

what you should buy how you should

live these distorted perceptions that

you might receive because you see

images of other people’s lives and think

everyone’s living that way is that me

what’s wrong with me i want you to

remember that you have value

that you matter and you can live in a

way of cultivating a life

worth living thank you