Some people may have a ready answer, I am Sally or I am Jason, but who are you really? At the core of your very nature, what are you, what drives you, what makes you do the things you do? Many of us truly have no idea.

Why should you even care?

One of the major challenges facing the human race today may very well revolve around the ignorance of human identity, motivation and desires. This can lead to a myriad of problems from simple discontent to disease to war.

While this might sound a little dramatic. Is it not then our duty to figure out our own identity and reason for being (Ikigai) for the sake of peace and to make our individual contribution to the world at large?

According to the World Health Organization, one in five people are clinically depressed, in fact, it is the number one cause of ill health and disability worldwide. Forget cancer and aids, depression is the biggest epidemic that the world has ever known.

May I suggest that we are unhappy because we do not know who we are, we do not know what we want. Abraham Maslow said: “It isn’t normal to know what we want. It is a rare and difficult psychological achievement”.

Do you want to know why? According to Mark Twain, the two most important days in your life is the day you are born and the day you find out why.

Life would be so much easier and rewarding when you are true to yourself, yet many of us live by default. We float aimlessly on the sea of life and go wherever it takes us. It is time to take charge of your own life. It is time to become aware of who you are and how you can leverage your uniqueness to create the life you want.

“What a liberation to realize that the ‘voice in my head’ is not who I am. Who am I, then? The one who sees that.” -Eckhart Tolle

So, where would you start on this journey of self-discovery or investigation into you?

Here are my suggestions.

Ikigai
Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means “a reason for being”, the thing that gets you up in the morning. Finding your Ikigai could involve a deep inner search and can often be elusive, but once found, the Japanese believe, your life will be balanced, meaningful and fulfilling.

Basic Instinct
As humans, we are motivated by 6 basic needs and these influence our motivations and how we prioritise our actions and decisions or, according to Anthony Robbins, “Why we do what we do”.

Personality
Our personality is made up of both character, which is shaped through our experiences in life, and temperament, which shows up in early childhood and doesn’t change much through your lifetime.

The ugly Stepsister
We often project a persona to the world, a distorted, sometimes nasty version of who we are, because this persona is incongruent with who we really are. Everything you do through this persona is painful and difficult. Identify this imposter, face it and release it.

Soul Searching
When last did you have an exciting new idea? What was it? What did you do about it?
If you had a superpower, what would it be and what would you use it for? By asking yourself some serious thought provoking questions, and considering them honestly, you might shed some light on what is really important to you and what you truly want out of life.

Design your Life
Once you have a clear idea of what it is you want and where you want to go, write a project plan. Much like planning a holiday, you need to specify where you want to go, when you want to get there, how you will get there, what you need to take with you and what you need to sacrifice in order to get there.

Silent Scream
What are you telling the world without saying a word? Our bodies speak continuously and we are mostly unaware of what they are saying. Even then, we are all experts at reading body language, we all get a feeling that something is off when someone says something but their body is saying something else.

When you learn how to manage your body language in small ways, you can always get your message across. While understanding what other people are telling you with their bodies and expressions, you can adjust your approach.

Personal Brand
Again, what impression are you giving the world out there? How do people see you and how do you want them to see you? What are you posting online that should rather remain private?

We often inadvertently create an image of ourselves that we actively project to the world which is not congruent with who we really are. And, of course, sometimes you want to project an image that will advance your career, so the ‘professional you’ as opposed to the ‘fun you’.

Simplify
Our lives are filled with clutter, physically, mentally and emotionally. Getting rid of all the excess mess and simplifying things makes life lighter. We make things very complicated for ourselves when it really doesn’t have to be, we waste so much time wading through our clutter instead of living and focusing on the things that matter.

What are you waiting for? Go find you. World peace depends on it, remember?