Most of us introduce ourselves with our names, followed by job titles. If we don’t have a job at the moment, we might say: “I’m only a staying home mom” or “ah…..well…..I’m between jobs”, embarrassed by our identity nakedness. This is how we are conditioned growing up. Strangers often identify us by our features they see on the surface – nationality, skin color, sexual orientation, religion, gender, age and so on. Features, names or titles only serve as wrapping paper or labels. Our true identity – who we really are – is the substance inside. The more substance we have internally, the less we are affected by external labels.
Such substance is reflected in our characters, personality, attitude, competence and impact, to name a few. It could be overwhelming to figure out what to do about each. The good news is there is a simplified step-by-step roadmap in becoming the best version of ourselves and leading a fulfilled life. The first step is to identify who we are – our unique blueprints – in the following areas:
- Values – internal guideline of every action we take.
- Interests – internal motivation that drives our actions.
- Strengths – natural talents plus learned skills that fuel our actions.
Life journey is like driving a car. Values are the road signs that keep us safe and sane; interests or passion is the engine that moves us forward; strengths are the fuel that keep us moving. When we are conscious about these factors and our destinations, we are in the driver’s seats taking charge of our lives. When we follow our unique blueprints, we are on a life path with least resistance.
