When I first thought about writing this blog my intention was to give you some exercises to be able to explore a bit about yourself.
Knowing more about yourself offers up so much to you in so many ways.
Knowing who you are and what you want builds confidence and resilience.
Knowing who you are can help reduce anxiety and depression.
Knowing who you are can help you with decision-making and can create a lot less conflict in your life than if you didn’t know about yourself.
Thinking about what I was going to include in this blog then got me thinking about what I know about myself and “who I am?“ and it also reminded me of something…
As much as I enjoy exploring my inner self and my external influences it’s not a static process, it’s not a one time thing that you write it up in your journal and that’s the end of it.
It’s an ongoing process!
It’s a process that we need to reflect on continually so that we are able to understand who we are, where we are going, what affects us, what we enjoy, what we dislike et cetera et cetera et cetera.
Let me give you an example to help clarify
Louisa came to counselling because she couldn’t make sense of her life. She was lacking in energy, not wanting to get out of bed in the morning and not wanting to face people. She had recently given up her job because she was feeling so ill and was continually having headaches and sickness.
Louisa knew she wasn’t happy but didn’t know exactly why so, she decided to use counselling to help her explore what was currently going on in her life. As part of that process she began to notice what it was that was really important for her. Louisa had chosen a particular career path a long time ago, going to college and then on to university and had continued with her professional development. The trouble was, was that she just felt that she was in the wrong place. There were aspects of the job that she liked but there were parts of it that were really causing her distress.
Louisa explored her values along with the values of those around her and she noticed that the values of her employers were totally different to that of her own and that this was likely to be one of the reasons that she was struggling in her career path. She also realised that the career path she had taken had not, exactly, been of her own choosing, but that of outside influences.
Louisa also used her counselling to explore some of her beliefs and began to notice how they linked to her current situation and the effects that they were having on her. She was able to link experiences to feelings and to create new choices for herself.
Louisa knew that it was time for a career change but she didn’t know which path to take. She wanted to take a career break but couldn’t afford to do so so she looked around for a job that would act as a fill-in for her. This meant that she still had an income and although money was a bit tighter than usual she didn’t have all the distress that came with an unhappy job and therefore she was feeling so much better both mentally and physically.
Louisa isn’t currently having counselling as she is managing whats going on for her right now. She has the tools to help her to explore her values and beliefs at anytime and rather than leaving it until she thinks she needs a doctor, next time she will be returning to counselling so that she can maintain a good healthy balance in her life.
After all counselling is #TheUltimateSelfCare
So if you decide to do some of the exercises that I have invited you to take part in, over on social media, giving you opportunities to think about who you are now, once you start discovering and becoming more aware of who you are, you might want to make changes in your life and therefore you might need to do the exercises again in a few months or a years time.
Other than those exercises there are so many more which you can do. Personally I loved doing the personality test and then six months later, having become so much more aware of myself, doing the test again and noticing the differences.
Another great exercise you can do is to get together with a group of friends and print off a Johari window. You can then help each other with the exploring. I did this with a group of friends and it was fun although if you do decide to do it do remember to be kind to each other and shit sandwich your feedback.
Always remember that it’s your choice to do these exercises and you don’t have to do them. If difficult stuff comes up for you then you can talk it through with your friends, try journalling or get professional counselling.
If you are interested in counselling, exploring and finding out more about yourself to enhance your self esteem and lower your anxiety then you can give me a call on 07478 754839 or send an email to juliekuhn@counsellingforyoucornwall.co.uk.
Don’t struggle alone!