Know Yourself: Step One Toward Authenticity.
This week, take an opportunity to learn about yourself.
In our last blog, we introduced Stephen Joseph’s Authenticity formula: Know Yourself + Own Yourself + Be Yourself. This week, we’re diving into the first part of this formula, which is to Know Yourself.
Observing your reactions can tell you a lot about yourself
If you read our last blog, you know we’ve been working on our self-observation skills to notice how we feel in different daily situations. Noticing our emotions, and noticing how we feel physically in various scenarios gives us a great clue to whether we’re being true to our self. Over the past week, you hopefully found some good opportunities to observe situations that make you feel good, and also situations that make you feel uncomfortable or uneasy.
If you haven’t done this exercise yet, no worries. Give it a shot this next week, or, draw on your memory bank to think of different situations you’ve experienced that correspond to each of the two reflection questions below. This will give you a great starting point and ideas for the Know Yourself exercises we’ll introduce later in this blog.
Reflection Exercise: Observing your reactions
Take 5 minutes to answer the following questions in your journal or in a note on your phone.
In what types of situations did you notice positive emotions and physical sensations? For example: feeling proud, happy, comfortable, appreciated, loved, relaxed, energized or in tune with your body and mind?
In what types of situations did you notice negative emotions and physical sensations? For example: feeling ashamed, guilty, sad, uncomfortable, uneasy, unappreciated, isolated, anxious, low energy or disconnected from your body and mind?
After this reflection, you might have a list of situations that tend to be positive experiences for you, and a list of situations that tend to be negative experiences.
What do these lists tell you about yourself, what you like and what you don’t like?
Now that you’ve had a chance to reflect on situations that make you feel good vs those that make you feel uncomfortable or uneasy, let’s continue our exploration of Authenticity by asking “Who do I want to be?”
Reflection Exercise: Who do you want to be?
Authenticity is all about being true to yourself. This requires living in a way that supports the person you want to be. The question “Who do I want to be?” encourages us to think about not only what we value, but also how we express those values through our actions, lifestyle, thoughts, etc…Let’s take a look at this question from a few different angles in the activities below.
Activity one: Take 5 minutes to answer the following questions in your journal or in a note on your phone.
What am I doing with my time and energy right now? How am I living?
What would I like to be doing with my time and energy? How would I like to be living?
Do my answers to the above questions match? If not, how are they different?
You may notice that what you want to be doing and how you want to be living is different from what you’re actually doing and how you’re actually living right now. This is true for many of us. Modern life presents many external pressures that can pull us out of alignment and distance us from what’s important to our most authentic self.
But by doing the work to know ourselves, it becomes easier to notice when we’re drifting away from our dreams, goals, and values.
As we work on knowing ourselves, “Who do I want to be, and how do I want to live?” can be one of the most exciting questions to ask. This question covers a TON of good stuff: What do you love to do? What motivates you? What brings you joy and fulfilment? What are your values? What skills or strengths feel important to you? What lifestyle brings you balance?
Basically, asking “Who do I want to be, and how do I want to live?” gives each of us a chance to explore what we naturally want to accomplish, enjoy, express and embody as a unique human being.
Activity two: Take 5 minutes to answer this question in your journal or in a note on your phone.
“Who do I want to be, and how do I want to live?”
Another question we can ask is “What blocks me or brings me down?” When we ask this question, we’re essentially putting a microscope on the things that prevent us from being the person we want to be; our authentic self.
Activity three: Take 5 minutes to answer this question in your journal or in a note on your phone.
What blocks me or brings me down?
Bonus Creative Exercise: “Self Portrait” collage
If you like visual expression, check out this exercise for a fun weekend reflection project. There are no rules for how you make this collage; you can use magazines, craft paper, watercolors or other paints, found objects, and anything else you can apply to your “board.”
Materials: Choose whatever you’d like to use from the list of suggestions below!
A “board” for your collage - this can be a sheet of paper, cardstock, cardboard, etc…
Glue, tape, string (to adhere things to your board)
Magazines, found objects, pictures
Markers, pens, paints
Create a “self portrait” by assembling a collage on your board that visually represents your answers to the “Who do I want to be?” questions above. If you love to ski, maybe add an old lift ticket or ski pass. If you’re passionate about travelling and experiencing new cultures, you could add clippings from a travel magazine featuring your dream destinations. You get the idea…Along with your visual elements, you may also want to add words or phrases that help describe important things like your core values and beliefs.
This collage is similar to a vision board. It will give you a clear picture of what you need to focus on to accomplish a key goal: being the person you most want to be. Sometimes in life, it’s easy to lose sight of the things that matter most to us. This self portrait collage can provide a daily reminder of how important these things are as you’re working to live authentically.
We hope this post has been helpful! Stay tuned for the rest of our Authenticity series as we continue exploring this topic together over the next two months. Until next time!
Want to dive deeper? Or, just need to talk?
Do you need support right now? Want to explore this topic more deeply with a coach or peer group? We’re here for you! Recovery Resources offers several great ways for clients, alumni and community members to get plugged in for one-on-one support and meaningful discussion.
Our Peer Support Program gives you the opportunity to get support from those with personal lived experience navigating challenges, questions or struggles that are similar to your own. This program offers both individual talk sessions and peer groups. A trained Peer Support Specialist will be your advocate and guide as you pursue your goals.
Our Holistic Coaching Program gives you the opportunity to get support from a certified Holistic Health Coach with more than two years of experience working specifically with people in recovery. This program offers both individual coaching sessions and coaching circle groups. Your coach will be your facilitator and accountability partner as you identify your strengths and values so you can effectively pursue your goals. Reach out to Kelsey Brasseur to get started: kelsey@recoveryresourcescolorado.org
