Re-define Who You Are

Greetings friends!!! I pray the day is treating you well. Question for today.....Whose job is it to tell us who we are? Who has to right to "define" the person we were, we are or who we are going to be? You can't control others opinions of you (although your actions and character influence their opinions) but you can completely control your opinion of yourself. We often compare ourselves to others. We compare our look, our possessions, our children and our families to those of others. In this social media obsessed world we live in we also compare ourselves to reality stars and celebrities as if they were our next door neighbors.

Well my dear friends.....I am here to tell you.....YOU define who you are and if you aren't satisfied with your life or yourself at this moment, then RE-DEFINE who you are and become the person you want to be. Now please understand....this message has one very clear point....you MUST learn to be happy with YOU and work to become the best you not the best imitation of someone else. We each have individual gifts, talents and attributes that make us who we are. If we spend our time trying to be someone else, then we will never achieve self satisfaction or the happiness we yearn to have.

Re-defining yourself can be many things. It is achieved by being open, honest, positive, accepting and a willingness to change. Sometimes it means stepping outside our comfort zone. We have to become uncomfortable to be comfortable again. Quite often our lives force us to re-define who we are. Life changing events such as marriage, children, loss of a loved one, changes at work, divorce or tragedy change the course of our lives and as we adapt to these changes we re-define the person we are. For example, I lived my life to the fullest in my 20's (who didn't right?!). I was responsible for myself only and took risk and did things that now, as a mother, I wouldn't dream of doing. It was time to "grow-up" and become a better me.....a better me so I could be the mom my son deserved. Life changing events can be the catalyst for change but more often than not we may need to re-define on our on accord and not wait for a special event to be the springboard to our better, enriched life.

So, how do you do this? Start with personal growth. Everything you know up to this point has gotten you this far. In order to become a better you, growth is essential. Read books with positive messages. One of my favorite books is What To Say When You Talk To Yourself by Shad Helmstetter. This book addresses our self talk. It is so easy for us to say what we can't do verses what we can. Changing your perception of yourself is the first step to re-defining and becoming a better you. The second step is to surround yourself with others who have achieved the success you wish to achieve and/or live a life with the values and morals you have or are working to embrace. If I want to become an executive at work, then I want to surround myself with other executives. If I want to open a business, I surround myself with other entrepreneurs. The key here is to identify the positive, uplifting support system you need and allow those individuals to be the loudest voice in your head. Lastly, it is important to set goals for yourself and write those goals down. If I have heard it once, I've heard it a million times.....Everyone should WRITE DOWN their goals. That is so true but writing down your goals is part 1. Part 2 is reading those goals-EVERYDAY. Remind yourself of everything you wish to achieve and who you want to be.  This way, when the "old you" tries to resurface, the "becoming you" will take center stage.

There is so much more I could write about but for me, the 3 steps mentioned above are the starting point for my re-definition. I will continue to grow and work towards improving myself. Everyday I fall in love with the person I am becoming.....and I am becoming the person I always wanted to be.  I pray the same for you.

Love you all!!!!!