Here we are again… Asking the deep questions, getting to the REAL stuff.
This isn’t necessarily true, but I notice that when topics like this come up, everyone seems to react differently. Some people, like myself, are obsessed with ‘deep philosophical’ topics. “What is it that makes me tick? What gets me up in the morning?” I love doing anything I can to learn more about myself and gain a better understanding of how to become better every single day.
In the past I have written about ‘Discovering Your WHY’ and why it’s so important when it comes to sports, performance, and life as a whole. Now, diving into Personal Philosophies is taking that topic a few steps further.
Understanding your ‘WHY’ can be very powerful in helping you stay motivated during tough times, and helping you better understand what you are chasing (goal-wise) and what it can do for you. This is the point I used to stop with most people when it comes to self-discovery and internal reflection. But more recently, I have become intrigued by the idea of gaining an even bigger, and more holistic understanding of WHO I AM, WHAT DRIVES ME, AND WHY I ACT THE WAY I DO.
This is what has led me down the path of discovering my own Personal Philosophy.
So what does this even mean? Where do I start? How does this help me anyway?
What is a Personal Philosophy?
At the most basic level, a Personal Philosophy can be described as the beliefs, concepts, understandings, and attitudes you have that shape WHO you are as an individual. On the surface, this seems like a pretty straight-forward concept to grasp, but I quickly learned that this isn’t always the case.
Any time we dive into self-discovery, there is always the potential to discover more about ourselves than we bargained for. We may learn that we are quite a bit different than we initially thought we were.
Personally, I wasn’t completely prepared for what I would eventually determine to be my own Personal Philosophy. But at the end of the day, it helped me restructure my day-to-day behaviors, gain a better understanding of what my REAL motives were, and create better relationships with those people around me.
In order to get to this point, it took WAY longer than I anticipated. I wasn’t prepared for all the questions that would arise. I expected the answer to come to me in no time, but that was far from the truth.
The goal of determining YOUR Personal Philosophy is to gain a deeper understanding of yourself, and use these answers to steer your life in the direction that is best for your goals, desires, and dreams.
Where do I Start?
This is a very daunting process from the beginning with no guidelines or direction on where to go. That is why I want to help. I want to give you a starting point to build your own Personal Philosophy from.
To get to your final answer, you have to be willing to look inward and ask yourself some REAL meaningful questions. Some good starter questions include:
What drives YOU to get out of bed in the morning?
What fulfills YOU and what do YOU dread doing?
What is important to YOU?
Why are these things important?
Do your ‘fulfilling actions’ align with what is important to you?
These questions are designed to help you start digging a little deeper than we normally do, day-to-day. As you get further into this process, you are likely to go down rabbit-holes, get lost, and go off the beaten path...THIS IS A GOOD THING!
We never get any better or discover anything new within the bounds of our own comfort zone! We have to get outside that comfort zone and be uncomfortable in order to grow!
As you are asking yourself these questions and starting to determine different facets of your own Philosophy, start taking note how these things play out in your everyday life.
How do you react to different situations?
What are your relationships like?
What makes you Smile? Cry? Yell?
KEEP LEARNING ABOUT YOURSELF!
The best way to keep tabs on these things is to keep a daily journal. If you’ve never done it before, it may be difficult at first because it is so foreign. But trust me, it is worth it in the end. Journaling is one of the most powerful tools to use to learn more about yourself and continue growing into the person you want to become.
What is this going to do for ME?
As time goes on and you start to notice new things about yourself, keep adapting, keep changing, and keep learning. If your new Philosophy is truly important to you, you will quickly start to notice your behavior in different situations change, your hobbies and interests may even change. But, this is all part of the process of becoming the person you want to be.
A Personal Philosophy is something that is already there within all of us, but most of the time we just don’t know it, or we choose to ignore it. Having a strong Personal Philosophy that steers and guides our daily lives will eventually lead to more satisfaction, fulfillment, and happiness in everything we do.
Don’t get me wrong. This type of self-discovery isn’t for everyone, but if you REALLY want to become the best version of yourself, you will quickly notice how much of a difference a Personal Philosophy will make throughout your life.
Lastly, for a lot of us, it is difficult to remember everything that drives us, everything we are passionate about, everything about ourselves. We can quickly get caught up and lost in our busy lives. Because of this, it can be beneficial to create a motto or saying that you can use to remind yourself of your philosophy throughout the day.
This motto can be anything that helps you get back on track and help you keep pushing toward the goals of your own Personal Philosophy. The best part is, no one has to know what it means and it doesn’t even have to make sense!
For example… My motto is FISH… and that’s all I’ll say, but it works for me and that’s what matters!
Developing a Personal Philosophy is a pretty intimidating task, but it is such a powerful tool to have in your back pocket that the time and effort are 100% worth it. So go out and start learning about YOURSELF and work toward becoming the person you’ve always dreamed of!