If you f eel like you wake up everyday wanting to scream out loud “WHO AM I” or actually dothen you will want to read this post. I see people struggling everyday to answer thequestion “What am I?” when we really need to f ocus on “Who am I?” Let’s explore thedif f erence so you can f ocus your personal development on the right question to start.

On a side note I was inspired by a f riend of mine to write this post af ter watching her makesome amazing accomplishments in lif e and succeed at goals that looked like they would beeverything she could ever hope f or in lif e. She will cherish having had the opportunity to doand be what she was and she loved every minute of it but the goals didn’t give her thefulf illment she was looking f or. And so continues her journey to f ind what she is to do withwho she knows she is.

Both questions of “Who am I” and “What am I” are valid questions but the most importantone to answer is Who am I because that is the core of your very being and will not changeno matter what role you take on in lif e.

What Am I

I look at the question what am I as the way we def ine what we spend our days doing toearn money. The roles that we play as you will. That is why most of the questions we getasked by others are what do we do. This is the explanation you give over and over toothers which explains why so many people confuse what they do with who they are.

You are telling your subconscious that you are a lawyer, garbage man, mother and that is allyou are. The danger with this is the stigma that comes with our career choice. If every timeyou say you are a retail clerk people and people give you a look of oh that is all you are itweighs heavy on you.

Let me rant f or a second. I don’t care what career you have chosen as long as you f eelf ulf illed at the end of each day. If you come across people who judge you based on yourcareer choice don’t get mad (it wastes your precious energy on negativity) but f eel sorryfor them that they f eel the need to put others down to make themselves f eel better. If youfeel f ulf illed be proud of what you do.

You are so much more than the role you play in this world. We have to be because once ourrole ceases to exist we lose all direction in lif e. If you are no longer an athlete, doctor,musician, etc. than what are you? YOU. You will always be you regardless of the role youplay.

Where the issue arises is people spend very litt le time f iguring out who they really are untilusually a tragedy or major shif t in lif e f orces them to.

Who Am I

The real you is the person you choose to be when you know no one who knows you iswatching. So many people put on an act by day to be the people they believe they need tobe to get ahead in lif e and a totally dif f erent person at night. If you f ind yourselfexpressing that you can’t wait until you get home to be yourself it is time to do some self -exploration.

This is what I call the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde syndrome. Not that you turn into a crazy monsterat night but there is a disconnect between what you express on the outside at certain timesand what is going on inside you.

Trying to be someone you are not is exhausting and stressful. Feeling inauthentic each daytakes it toll on your physical health and emotional well being.

Answering the question of who you are is not an overnight thing or a one day course. It cantake a long time and some serious trial and error. You will make mistakes and as you do youwill discover valuable lif e lessons about who you don’t want to be in lif e.

I wish I could just give you all the answers and you could magically discover who you are.use your journal to write down every time you f eel like you did something that day that lef tyou f eeling complete and f ulf illed. Those are your clues that you are on the right path todiscovering who you are.

It is dif f icult to distinguish between how our career leaves us f eeling f ulf illed and how wefelt f ulf illed as a person. Always look to why it made you f eel that way. Were you able toexpress your creativity at your career that day? If so then you know expressing yourcreativity makes you f eel f ulf illed so whether you are at that career or not you know youneed to have creativity be a part of what you do.

Look inside yourself . If you don’t know who you are no one else will either.

The Journey

Our journey in lif e will lead down many dif f erent paths and we will play many dif f erent roles.I have been (and still am in some cases) a f armer, assembler, production f oreman, retailmanager, warehouse manager, goal coach, Lif e Coach, f ather, brother, f riend, leader andthe list goes on. No matter what role I play you will always get the same me.

The guy who is always willing to listen to you, wants to help you f ind happiness in lif e andwould love to know more about who you are and then what you do. I will always do my bestto be f air but am not af raid to say what I think and to push you to be the best you can be. Ifyou ask me a question about myself I would answer it.

I can play any role because I do not change to f it the role I make the role f it me. If I cannotmake the role what I need it to be then I choose to longer be in that role. I would not

choose a role if I had to change the person I am. If you are a happy outgoing person stuckin a negative workspace where they do not encourage positivity, get out. It will destroy youeventually.

Our goal is to f irst discover who we are and then f ind what roles we can play in lif e thatwould leave us f eeling f ulf illed at the end of everyday.

Take Action Request:

For your take action request I am actually going to send you over to Oprah to take a greatquiz about Who Am I Meant To Be?

Your Lif e Your Choice Your Design

Darrin Wiggins

“Often, its not about becoming a new person, but becoming the person youwere meant to be, and already are, but don’t know how to be.” – Heath LBuckmaster