Identity is a long journey that must be taken by everyone. There is a saying that ‘knowing oneself is the beginning of wisdom’ which means that by knowing oneself, one can determine what happiness one wants to achieve.
Maybe you are also one of those people who are in a period of searching for identity. But do you understand what identity means? Before you look for the real self, it’s better to understand what the true self means. Or maybe you can find something useful for yourself that you don’t know.
Come on, understand what identity means and how to find identity.
What is Identity?
Identity comes from the word substance in Arabic which means essence, substance, or existence. Meanwhile, self comes from the Arabic word al nafs which means self or self.
Identity according to KBBI or the Big Indonesian Dictionary is the characteristics, description or special circumstances of a person or an object, it can also mean identity, soul core, spirit, and inner movement or spirituality.
Some people argue that identity is a manifestation of one’s life ideology. Identity can appear from childhood and can be influenced by several factors such as environmental and social factors.
Broadly speaking, the process of self-discovery is not easy because of many factors and it is certainly full of various kinds of trials. However, when we have succeeded in finding identity, then usually someone will become more confident. In addition, they become more confident in determining their life goals.
How is Our Identity Formed?
Identity is usually formed from a combination of internal factors (genetics, personality, and so on) and external factors (school, home, people around and so on). A teenager’s identity develops when they try various roles in different environments, such as school, home and environment. This will give them the opportunity to explore their own values, beliefs, ethics, spirituality and sexuality.
Tips for Finding Yourself
After discussing the notion of identity, the next discussion is tips on finding identity. For more details, here is the full explanation.
1. Recognize yourself by knowing talent
The first way to find identity is to know the talent that is in you. You can start from what activities you like, look for new activities, listen to other people’s opinions and look for new experiences. Apart from that, you can also take various fuel tests such as the FACT or Flanagan Aptitude Classification Test. FACT is a test which consists of 14 tests to determine one’s talents and basic abilities.
2. Recognize personality
In the process of finding identity, it is important for someone to know his personality. Are you an introvert or extrovert. If you don’t know anything about your personality, you can take the MBTI test. This test will identify you as an introvert or extrovert. Are you an intuition or sensing, feeling or thinking and perception or judgmental.
3. Recognize productive time
If you recognize productive time, it can help you not to do activities at inappropriate times. Indirectly, this will also help you to recognize your identity. You can pay attention to whether you are a productive person at night or in the morning? In addition, you can pay attention to what time your energy is peaking or falling?
4. Determine life goals
Life goals are different from ideals that are only career-oriented and also financial. The purpose of life is more about meaningful achievement and how to turn dreams into useful tools for the environment.
5. Know your strengths and weaknesses
When looking for identity, you have to know what strengths and weaknesses you have. This is very important because if you know your strengths it will be an important key for you to have self-confidence.
If you don’t know your strengths, you don’t even respect yourself and become less confident. Strength is not only physical but also intelligence, character, the ability to regulate emotions and so on is also self-strength.
You need to know the shortcomings in this case so that you don’t fall into the same hole. In fact, with strong self-confidence, you can make your weaknesses the strengths that you highlight.
6. Determine what makes you feel comfortable
Searching for identity is not only done when you are feeling productive or primed. However, it can also be done when you are facing difficult times in this life. It would be nice, try to remember the hard times you went through, what comfort can you feel? And what makes you feel better?
By knowing what makes you comfortable, it will be easier for you to find your identity. Apart from that, you can also find people to help improve your mood or you choose to be quiet by yourself listening to songs or watching movies. Or you can just eat your favorite food.
7. Take time to be quiet and reflect
Make sure you also provide time for silence without work interruptions, love disturbances and other disturbing hustle and bustle. You also need time to be quiet and alone, because basically no one can find their identity without giving themselves time to be quiet.
By being silent or contemplating, you will be able to listen to what your soul is telling you and at the same time carry out an honest self-evaluation. Apart from that, this can also be used as a moment of reflection to hear what you are actually pursuing, without being influenced by the hustle and bustle around you.
8. Record the thoughts and emotions that arise in a diary
In the search for identity, you also need to recognize and observe existing thoughts and feelings. You can do this for a week or so to get a bigger picture of the topics that pop up in your head. After that, you write it in a diary.
By observing what you have written, then maybe you will find a vague statement about the purpose of life that you have never realized. Once you find a repeating pattern, try to find time to think about the meaning of your thoughts and feelings.
9. Start doing something good
In the process of finding your identity, you also have to start doing good things. Do good things continuously until these good things will help us to find a good habit too.
10. Learn to solve problems yourself
Indeed, various problems will arise in the process of finding identity. You will face problems ranging from mild to severe problems. However, try to identify the problem you are facing and solve it as best you can.
11. Stay away from those who try to lead you down a negative path
When you are looking for identity, especially when you are at an age that can be said to be still unstable, choosing a good social environment is indeed very risky. In association, not always the people you know will have good intentions for you.
There are times when other people will also plunge other people into bad things. When you have found signs that are not right in your environment or you find a relationship that is already toxic, then you can avoid and stay away from friends like that.
You don’t need to be afraid that you won’t have friends, but you will be relieved when you are on a better path. If you are in a good social environment, then you will also be able to form a good identity.
12. Ask for opinions from people about yourself
When you don’t know anymore to be able to recognize yourself. Try to ask the people closest to you. Ask them to rate you.
That assessment can be in the form of specific characteristics or moments that they think will describe who you really are. After finding the answer, you can reflect on their answer and start thinking about what you need to do.
Signs That You’ve Found Your True Self
Have you found your identity yet? For those of you who haven’t found your identity, you can recognize it through the signs below.
1. You have a strong desire and drive to get through the day
When you have found your identity, then everything you do will focus on a clear goal. Laziness and boredom will not succeed in making you lose motivation every day.
With clear goals, it will give you extra energy and will make you more enthusiastic about carrying out activities.
2. You will not expect validation and self-acceptance from others
Not a few people are currently doing good just so they can get acceptance from others. In fact, if you expect validity and acceptance from others you can potentially experience pressure and be chased by your own expectations.
If you have found your identity, the judgment or acceptance of others will no longer be the focus of attention. Identity makes you understand the qualities that you have so that in the end you don’t need other people’s recognition so you can be confident.
3. You will understand how important it is to love yourself
Loving yourself may be rarely done and even put aside for some people, even though before you can love others you need to love yourself. The love that comes from you is what will be able to present love around you simply and warmly.
When you have found your identity, then you will definitely appreciate and love yourself more wisely. That love will make you feel enough and not make other people your reason to be happy.
4. You dare to do something that is contrary to most people
Are you still jealous of what other people have achieved? If so, it means that you are not considered to have found your identity. If you have found your identity, then you will not be affected by what other people have.
The more you can recognize yourself, then you will no longer have the intention to join in, or be jealous of other people’s achievements and lives. You already understand that you can achieve not all the achievements of others. That way, you will grow into someone who is more mature and wiser to overcome anything in life.
5. You are aware of your priorities and have clear goals
When you understand what is a priority, then you will also understand the goals you want to achieve in the future. The more you are aware of life’s priorities, the more you will no longer use your spare time to do things that are less useful.
If at this time, you are still using your free time for things that are less useful, it could be a sign that you haven’t found your true self.
Why Is Having Identity Important?
Having a commitment to one identity will make someone more confident and responsible for their choices in life. They will also feel that they have control over their life because of the confidence and clarity that is formed from this self-identity.
It is also important to realize that human life is not static and there are times when we will question our identity again as we get older and experience in life. Maybe the discovery of identity will not stop at a certain age.
Therefore, by understanding identity, it will be easier for someone to deal with various problems that are being faced. So, never hesitate to find yourself.
Things to Do When Experiencing an Identity Crisis
When you are looking for identity and questioning yourself ‘who am I?’ There are several things that can be tips that you can do when facing this crisis.
Explore interests and talents
If you don’t know yourself well, then you can start by looking for things that interest you. Like things you don’t like and you like.
Consider the goals you want to achieve
Have you ever thought about what you want to achieve in life? What will give you peace as well as happiness? An identity crisis could be a sign that you have unmet needs right now. Knowing what your purpose in life is is the first step that will fulfill that need.
Get close to the support system
Many people already know that an identity crisis is a very crucial thing where you are vulnerable to outside influences. So, it’s important to get closer to people who really care about your kindness so you don’t go astray and stay on the right path.
Well, that’s it, Sinaumed’s is an explanation of identity along with tips for finding identity. From all the discussion above, it can be said that identity is something that must be owned by someone to be more confident in living this life. So, don’t give up and keep achieving your life goals.
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Author: Christin Devina