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