How to build a healthy self-identity?
As we navigate our lives and grow into adulthood, we develop our identity, the thing that makes us unique and distinguishes us from others. Everyone has the right to feel comfortable and confident in who they are. However, building a healthy self-identity can be a difficult task. Here are some top tips for becoming more confident and secure in yourself.
Build positive relationships
It is estimated that over a third of young people are anxious about how much people like them and feel pressure to act or look a certain way. These worries may seem small at first, but with time can blow up into debilitating anxiety.
To foster a positive self-identity, it is imperative that you surround yourself with people who value and respect you. This is echoed in current research, which shows positive social relationships can help improve self-esteem. By situating yourself in a supportive, uplifting environment you’ll feel more confident and secure.
Self-reflection
If you ever feel fraught with self-doubt, it is essential that you understand the underlying cause. If left unattended, these insecurities can build up and seep into your everyday life, negatively impacting your personal and professional ambitions.
Self-refection is a great way to understand how you feel and why you feel that way. Taking the time to look inward and review your behaviours can be an effective way to know where these insecurities come from. Once you understand the cause of these troublesome feelings, you can begin working to find solutions to overcome them.
Positive affirmation
Self-affirmations are positive acts used to challenge negative thoughts – enabling you to move beyond threats to your self-identity. Research shows that self-affirmation can lower anxiety, stress and rumination. But how do you practice self-affirmation?
Practising self-affirmation can be a simple process. All you need to do is encourage yourself and practice self-compassion in moments where you may be facing hardship. These can be verbal reminders like saying something positive to yourself each morning or physical reminders such as leaving positive notes on your desk at work. When combined, these positive reminders will lift your mood and help accept yourself for who you are.
Practice mindfulness
Mindfulness is the practice of focusing your attention solely on the current moment. Being mindful can be beneficial for numerous mental health conditions, by helping to reduce stress and social anxiety. Like self-reflection, mindfulness practises allow you to take a step back, away from the stress and worries of everyday life and enable you to understand why you feel the way you do.
Mindfulness is about focusing on your environment. It involves relaxing, meditating, and concentrating on sounds or thoughts. Mindfulness exercises can be as short as 60 seconds or as long as an hour. During this time, you can become more aware of yourself and your surroundings.
Seek treatment
Dealing with self-identity can be overwhelming. If you feel ready, you should consider talking to a mental health professional. According to NHS statistics , approximately 1.4 million people were in contact with mental health services last year. These figures show that more people are recognising the value of professional mental health support and are overcoming the stigma of mental health discussion.
Those wishing to seek treatment should not feel ashamed. Talking to a professional can take a lot of trust and courage. It can also be a step in the right direction. Through counselling, you can explore who you are, identify your values and work on your wellbeing.
How can an Employee Assistance Programme help with building a healthy self-identity?
Struggling with your sense of self can affect your mental health, your outlook and how you view yourself. This can be further impacted by self-limiting beliefs that hinder you from seeing pitfalls as opportunities for learning or as a part of life.
HA | Wisdom Wellbeing, the UK’s leading EAP provider, can help you work towards building a healthy self-identity. With a solution-focused approach to counselling, we can help you identify core negative beliefs and work with techniques routed in CBT to help reframe experiences into healthier ones. Available 24/7, 365 days a year, you can connect with a counsellor at a time that’s convenient for you.
