Day 4: Identify Yourself:
Not everyone has a strong sense of identify. Do your opinions, thoughts, viewpoints, and even values shift depending on whose company you’re in? The development of your personality may have been stunted due to an invalidating home environment you had as a child and thus preventing you from forming a full personality of your own. They may have been your mind’s way of adapting to your environment and protecting you, but as an adult, the patterns begin to no longer serve you.
Figuring out who you are takes time, love, and self-compassion – especially if you’re getting a late start.
Make a note in your journal each time you notice something that you believe to be a truth (coming from your heart) about who you are. Keep a log and review it from time to time. Continue to explore the unique, wonderful being that you are.
How does working on identity issues help us to Stop Sabotaging?
When we don’t know who we are, there is a tendency to change course with every wind that blows. If we are not grounded in our own values and goals, we can easily become emotionally dys-regulated and unbalanced. Developing a clear picture of who we are, what we stand for (and what we don’t stand for) can help guide us in making decisions that lead us toward our goals rather than destroy our progress by sabotaging.
Source(s):
Stop Sabotaging: A 31 Day DBT Challenge to Change Your Life
by Debbie Corso