May 5, 2024 • 38 mins
Join us on a trip through the intricacies of identity formation, life transitions, and rediscovering authenticity. Here's what to expect for this Episode:
🔍 Understanding Identity Formation: Explore the intersection of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors shaping identity, alongside developmental stages and milestones in exploration and consolidation.
💼 Life Transitions and Identity Challenges: Unpack how major life events like career changes, relationships, and loss trigger identity crises, and delve into conflicts and reconciliations in multicultural, LGBTQ+, and other diverse communities.
🌈 Rediscovering Authenticity and Purpose: Discover identity-affirming practices in therapy, mindfulness, and expressive arts, and embrace the journey of self-discovery with fluidity, complexity, and self-acceptance.
Tune in for thought-provoking conversations and empowering insights! 🎧✨
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome back to the Behavioral Blueprint podcast.
(00:03):
Today, we're going to be diving deep into the question that pops up in our various points in our lives.
Who are we?
We'll be exploring the concept of identity crisis and how life transitions into trigger of reevaluation.
Ultimately, how to navigate this journey of self-discovery.
Our sense of self isn't who we think we are in this very moment.
(00:25):
It's a complex tapestry woven from various different threads.
From our biology, our temperament, and also our psychology and the cultures that we navigate within ourselves.
Imagine a child discovering their personality, their likes, their dislikes, their strengths, and their weaknesses.
This exploration continues through adolescence as we grapple with societal expectations and we forge our own paths.
(00:50):
Young adulthood often brings another wave of self-discovery.
As we choose careers, navigate relationships, and potentially even start families,
throughout life these threads of biology, psychology, and sociocultural influences continue to intertwine in shaping our evolving sense of self.
(01:11):
It's really, really hard out here sometimes.
Especially when we really do have to take into the fact that these things and these very big parts of understanding our identity
play a part with who we are today and where we like things and how we like things and where we go with our dislikes and strengths and weaknesses like they were saying.
(01:32):
Or I'm sorry, like I was saying.
And I also do want to go over how important it is to give yourself grace because sometimes you have to even question where is this coming from.
And if you don't know like one parent or if you don't know anything like even genetically or just long term of where these things are coming from, really just revert back into your childhood.
(01:59):
Now, let's go into the life key span and the key milestones that you went through.
Think about whenever you were first born to 12 years old, that early developmental stage where you're finally understanding shapes, colors,
people, senses, smells, touch, grip, and all of those other things that are completely relevant into your life.
(02:23):
Then after that, let's go straight into playing and exploration.
Throughout play, children experiment with the roles in their lives, interests in how things socially even make sense.
How does this wood chip on the ground connect to me and what does it mean to me?
Then also family and culture, family dynamics, cultural norms, expectations, and then lastly, significantly influencing children's developmental stages of self.
(02:54):
When we are from birth to 12 years old, all of these things that are possibly not normal or possibly just continued in toxic cycles are playing a very present role in our systems and routines.
We don't identify them because we don't even know what other people's personal lives look like at those stages because we don't think about the importance of that.
(03:18):
We also don't think about what it means to deal with anything that we do with as a young age.
After that, we go into our adolescent stage.
We have an increased self-awareness compared to how we were from birth to 12 years old.
This adolescent stage is 13 to 19.
Teenagers, of course, become more self-aware and more self-conscious about the environment that they're in and understanding the space of independence.
(03:43):
I do know when I was 15, 16, all I wanted was a car.
I wanted to be in a space of thinking that I had the things that I wanted and also being able to drive whenever I wanted and leave the house whenever I wanted.
I also did have my own form of identity through clothing, music, and peer groups, and you would have the same as well.
Look at the societal expectation and also comparison that you put onto yourself, especially from that 13 to 19 year old age stage.
(04:11):
It really gets weird where you have to think that you have to do this thing because somebody else is doing this or you have to look at this or like this because somebody else is connecting to it.
That 13, 14, 15 stage, girl, I was a groupie.
I was always doing other stuff because other people wanted me to do it or because it just looked cool.
Well, in reality, I was just hiding in a form of a shell thinking that that was going to be safe for me because that's all I knew.
(04:37):
Now, lastly, it's also going to be looking at the developmental stages and values of your belief.
Adolescents, of course, grapple with the moral questions and forming their own values of beliefs when they really want to go away from the fact of where they're usually believing those values and beliefs that they had growing up.
Sometimes when you have those aware or self-awareness and having the increased self-awareness that we were just talking about, you realize, hey, that person isn't healthy.
(05:06):
That's in my family or hey, this person is actually very rude to me and they're using me and I don't know what to do.
How do I even go towards answering the problem?
And then lastly, looking at young adulthood, 20s through 40s.
I personally think that 20s and 30s is young adulthood personally because 40 girl, girl, girl, but an emerging adulthood.
(05:32):
This period often is marked by launching careers, starting careers, establishing the serious and romantic relationships in your life, potentially just even starting families if you feel so and also finally tapping into your semicircle of friends.
These experiences significantly, of course, influence your identity long term.
(05:55):
How do you deal with your life transitions?
Young adults, of course, navigate career changes, relocation and other life transitions that can trigger reevaluation of sense of self.
Then also you can look at how much these things in your life mean to you.
Like I know a lot of people that are starting very serious jobs thinking that they are supposed to be there for the next 20 years when girl, where is the earth going to be in the next 20 years, girlfriend?
(06:23):
I don't even know where we're going to be.
Where are you going to be?
You know, like when we died, taxes and death are like the two main things that we know we're going to be taken care of.
And that's not fair or real to us.
But that's our society right now.
And it's completely very difficult.
But when you go into understanding how the things that trigger you or the things that change you and the things that make you question your sense of self, it also looks at how you can have a duality relationship with intimacy and even isolation.
(06:56):
How do you answer and avoid problems that you deal with?
Also connecting with the Eric Erickson psychological stages of emphasizing importance of forming close relationships.
This is purposely bullet pointed in my basically in my notes, because I wanted to go over this very, very, very, very quickly.
(07:18):
And then also importantly, how can we look at intimacy versus isolation?
Isolation is really just seen as thinking you have to be by yourself and being able to thrive by yourself and being able to be by yourself and do well.
But when in reality, everything that we know of and everything that we're connected to has a form of community.
(07:41):
Our families are forms of communities, our schools are forms of communities, our spaces of growing up are forms of communities.
Excuse me.
Even when we're in spaces of thinking that we are alone, we do have community and we can't get away from thinking that we just have to isolate or be by ourselves just to further grow.
(08:03):
And people usually do that whole thing where they're like, oh, get off the fence of the planet earth for 30 days.
What?
I mean, it is kind of healthy, but I should let my family and friends know that I'm going to just not be on social media or not just interact with people.
And I think that we are in a space right now where we're losing the importance of intimacy.
(08:28):
We're actually kind of scared of each other.
Like we deal with ghosting very often with certain people.
I know because I unfortunately was a habitual goaster that I was avoiding intimacy.
I was avoiding being close with people because I used to think that that was something that was going to consume me and make me a terrible person.
(08:50):
When in reality, those are the things that you can actually connect with that make you a better person.
Now, I do want you to remember these three things.
These are very important for you.
These general milestones and individual development stages that you're going to be in varies from person to person.
You are not just a piece of paper.
You're not just a number and you're not just this one person.
(09:13):
You are multiple different lines of ancestors adding up to who you are.
Identify the exploration stages of where you're at in your life with ongoing reevaluations of where you want to be.
Slowly and very small, smally if that's a word, tweaking these small things of where you are to have the personal growth and also have the effect after you do the cause of work.
(09:41):
Factors like culture, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity can play significant influences on these processes.
Eric Erickson, psychological stages emphasizes the importance of forming close relationships with which can further shape identity.
(10:04):
Eric Erickson, psychological stages emphasizes the importance of forming close relationships.
I'm going to go ahead and link that down below so you guys can check out Eric Erickson.
He's really cool and I did a couple minutes of research on how much having relationships plays a part in our lives.
Negative or positive when it comes down to close friends or close relationships and how much even like the short term things, especially if you're a lesbian, you know how those you have relationships really could look and those can really wreck you the easiest because you put expectation into those.
(10:42):
Now just remember, these are going to be general milestones you don't understand what it means where you can have a crash at a young age, or have something very normal happen to you at 34.
You also have an identity exploration where you continue the things throughout your life, you have to go into reevaluating your adjustments and also your experiences for personal growth.
(11:07):
So take every single day, like a grain of salt, and also form a space of acceptance and love for yourself throughout these days, because every single day is a purpose in every single day is a moment for you to truly become who you are.
Let's explore some major life events that can trigger reevaluation of your identity.
(11:31):
Career changes, relationship milestones like we were talking about loss, and also relocation.
These things are major anchors of where your actual life can change.
And where do we go after these very normal things that people see in your life as just stepping stones can actually impact where you're supposed to be in your identity, plus also where you're supposed to be in your life.
(12:00):
The most normal one is going to be your career, dedicating years to a career path and then encountering new opportunities or unexpected circumstances that can make you reevaluate where you're supposed to go is going to be something that can challenge your inner vision of where you're supposed to be and who you're supposed to be.
Recently, I dealt with a situation where I had to question my career, I had to question where I was supposed to go professionally, and it made me feel like I had to get into a deeper setting of looking at my thoughts and looking at the natural way of where I go, I usually internalize very quickly.
(12:36):
And I make it as if everything is my fault because of how I used to grow up. I grew up in a home and I also grew up in a space where I feel like I had to just decide that it was me being the issue, rather in comparison, that some things just mess up and some things just don't work out.
People put weight on careers because of course we have to pay the bills, we have to commit to this life that honestly capitalism has created and we have to slave our hours and days away, just to make by, and I really don't love the fact that we have to create our whole identity
(13:13):
in careers because we should just choose to have a job in my opinion, I can go deeper into that if you guys want me to. But I do want to just cover over the fact that careers do change where you are, but they aren't going to be the concrete thing that is meant to be in your life.
I dealt with something like last year, where I was laid off from this job that was considered like the big girl job and I had this big girl career, making these big girl checks, but nobody really knew that I was in the worst mental state of my life, because one, yeah, my trauma, my past and where I, and how I answer problems, but then also
(13:57):
the environment that I was in professionally made me question if I was enough, and no job, no job should ever make you question if you are enough and slash if you're important. These things that honestly make you feel like you aren't important or slash make you feel like you have to fulfill yourself professionally to please other people is never the way to go at all.
(14:22):
Now let's talk about relationship milestones milestones and relationships whether marriage commitment ceremonies breakups, or even emptiness syndrome can also trigger self reflection deeply.
You might also question how these changes impact your identity as a single person as a partner, or even a parent if you're listening.
My biggest perspective that I've recently realized with relationship milestones is that every person can be a different experience, but it doesn't change the fact that if you're dealing with the same issue and avoiding where you're where you're at, and also what you're supposed to be doing.
(14:59):
You will be showed that problem consistently and questioning what is going on with yourself when it's truly who you are, and where you're supposed to be.
I'm a person that also looks at avoidance. Am I avoiding the problem, am I avoiding the relationship am I avoiding the person that I care about.
(15:20):
Where do I want to relieve the situation where do I want to go into taking care of myself or the other person. I personally do know about all the things that listed like emptiness syndrome and how you don't think that you can really have this person really live off on their
be of their own person, because you're scared that they're going to hurt themselves or breakups, and how, unfortunately, they can be truly damaging but they change you. My longest form of change was always going to really be the breakup that I went through earlier this
(15:55):
will last year, actually, yeah, the breakup that I went through last year, it truly changed me because I understood what it meant I did every single thing in the book, if you guys are on tik tok.
There's this trend where it's like, did all these things and I still didn't break up with him. Why would I ever post that I did every single thing that you could imagine in this breakup, and even when we were getting together.
(16:27):
And I learned that there is nothing that you can do when somebody just doesn't want to be with you. There is nothing that you can do when a job just doesn't want you anymore, there is nothing that you can do when it's in control of somebody else's hand.
The thing that you can control is how you respond, and how you take care of yourself after the form of losing and easily going into the next sequence is going to be loss, understanding that loss and losing a loved one or a significant relationship in your life is deeply an unsettling
(17:02):
experience. It can make you question your role in life, and also your purpose and who you're supposed to be out in the world and then also who you're supposed to be without the person in your world.
I have lost a lot of people. I usually used to make it very simple, as if it wasn't a big deal but I'm a deeply sensitive person. And I think I want to ask all of my listeners. Where does loss, make you go after you lose the thing that you didn't expect to lose.
(17:37):
It creates a form of disassociation for me. It makes me feel like I can't progress, or be without this person. In therapy I really address my abandonment issues but then I also talked to my therapist actually.
And we had a conversation about how, whenever we deal with traumatic situations it's not going to usually be new. It's usually like a cassette tape where you're listening to the same song over and over again when you're re triggered from your past.
(18:12):
One of my main triggers is abandonment issues. I really struggled with understanding how much my triggers and also my traumatic feelings played a part in my everyday relationships.
I'm completely off and I don't speak to anyone. And then there's times where I'm completely hyperactive and I want to overdo in my relationships, because whenever I had to learn what it meant in any type of stability emotionally with my family or with my parents.
(18:47):
It was strictly not going to be emotionally stable. And it created a point for me to question if I was going to understand where I had to be. And then also my perspective of relationships.
I used to think that relationships are completely transactional, or only when the person wants to be with me. And that's not fair to myself or anybody else that's looking to have a relationship with me, or even a friendship, or even professional.
(19:18):
And lastly, anything from external. I think the biggest thing that is important for anyone is that you are a person in your own world. You create the identity of yourself.
Loss isn't the end. It's truly just the beginning of a new form of who you are. Just like how snakes shed their skin every now and again, you have to shed your skin of who you thought you had to be.
(19:45):
Lastly, for this, it's going to be relocation. Moving to a new city or country can completely disrupt your established social networks and cultural norms.
You might be questioning your belonging, your sense of self in the new environment and grapple with the feelings of isolation.
Plus, you really can understand how much it means to really construct your life over again and become who you have to be.
(20:10):
I understand relocation. I used to think that relocation just meant, oh, just a different city. No, girl. You do not have the bomb-ass fucking Chinese restaurant around the corner that you can call it 3 a.m. anymore.
You don't have that anymore. And moving from a space that was very strongly predominantly black and then moving to a very predominantly white space, you understand palettes. You understand how lacking of palettes can be when you go into relocating yourself.
(20:46):
I've been in a different city compared to where I grew up for like the past two years, and I love the quietness here. But I also know that my environment has changed because I have to drive very far sometimes to just go get something to eat or go hang out with my friends.
It changed how I looked at myself, and it also changed how I looked at accessing people. How many people are worth my time? How many people are worth my space? How many people can touch my things or where I'm supposed to be?
(21:19):
Relocating at first was very difficult because I just didn't know anybody. I was graduating on my own and I didn't really know anybody, and the relationships that I had after I graduated from high school just didn't really go strongly into the way that I wanted them to be.
I had to watch my friends that I grew up with graduate online, and it was a completely stilling experience that I don't think that has been taken care of or watched enough, especially from Gen Z's point of view, and also from of course, older generations that don't look at emotional aspects.
(21:59):
But relocating and changing who you are and changing your networks can be a beneficial thing, but emotionally in you and also in the environment that you're in, how can you trust the things that you don't know?
And for me, I really go into just going head first and going to the crazy off the wall restaurant and having the best experience with the owner because you just simply started a conversation. Making it where you are the oddball out, but you really make it clear that it doesn't matter where you're located. You can be the person that you want to be.
(22:37):
I wanted to put the questions last, and your trigger questions can usually look like this. What are your true strengths and passions? What kind of work fulfills me? How do I want to define myself in this new relationship dynamic? Who am I without this person in my life? How do I adjust to this new environment and build a sense of belonging?
(22:58):
Now, we're going to go over challenges of identity for diverse communities. Reconciling with cultural expectations, societal norms, and personal identity can be particularly difficult for members of diverse communities, minorities, and also the LGBTQ community and any other communities.
(23:20):
Usually the challenges that are faced are going to be pressured to conform to family traditions, especially if you are a very traditional family. Even if they clash with personal values and aspirations, it can lead to an internal struggle.
Limited definitions of gender roles, sexual orientation, and family structures can limit and create stress of the identity of itself if you don't know how to neatly fit into these categories.
(23:48):
The challenges with understanding these issues of identity in diverse communities can usually feel like not fitting in visibility, pressure to conform, and difficulty to reconcile with different aspects of who you are.
I know that that was really a tongue twister, but I really do want to say that as a person who really did come out very young, I didn't have a choice with basically tongueing down or swallowing my family's homophobia.
(24:20):
I used to defend so many people where it made it completely uncomfortable for me to speak up about these things and also defend myself. Like I was saying earlier, I used to feel like there was something that I was just doing wrong growing up.
So if I was just growing up and telling my parents, hey, y'all, a little gay, of course it can be very difficult to connect the personal values that they created for me with their expectations and also how I can even look at myself because there's not usually gay black auntie in the family that just knows how to guide you and brush you up into be the person that you want to be.
(25:03):
It can be completely difficult, especially when you don't understand societal norms, and if you don't have the people that are like you around you, people will completely judge you for who you are as if it's an issue in their life and you are inconvenienced in their life when in reality, they don't need to know anything of who you are.
(25:25):
And I absolutely relate to like the pressure conforming because I have noticed myself that I mask very well, and I am kind of kind of fake when it comes down to smiling in somebody's face and then walking away and being like what the fuck did I just experience, because I feel like being in a very cis head community.
(25:49):
It makes you really look at, oh, these are how people think this is how people think this is how people believe in themselves it's insane. I don't think that it's going to be something like this very long, because of course Gen Z is very Gen Z.
If you watch Gen Z you know that show is so good. But Gen Z is just changing and creating new labels and we are breaking the ceiling with anything that goes into conforming people because we believe in liberation.
(26:23):
Just to summarize, challenges of identity for diverse communities can be extremely difficult, but looking into the mirror of yourself and who you are is always going to be the thing that makes you into the person that you want to be.
Look into the goals that you want to have for yourself and the future that you want to create for yourself. If you're in any of these moments of fear, or even in these spaces of diverse communities where you think that you can't be yourself.
(26:54):
Just talking to other people online and making it very clear that you are your own identity, and it takes time for you to fully understand where you're supposed to be. It's not going to just be in 20 years it's going to take time.
So if you are not queer and black in any, any, any person that is in a space of the LGBTQ community or is non-binary trans, I love you and you are seen you are heard and valued.
(27:24):
The uncertainty of identity crisis is these reevaluations and challenges can lead to an identity crisis. You might start questioning everything that you thought about yourself, who you are, where you go, where your values are in even your goals.
This feeling of uncertainty can be overwhelming but it's an opportunity for growth.
(27:45):
One of the indicators of the identity crisis is understanding where you're questioning core values and beliefs are and where they go, feeling lost about anything that you feel uncertainty in your, in your future goals, difficulty in making decisions and feeling like you just don't belong anywhere.
(28:06):
Have you ever experienced an identity crisis before? How did you navigate it? Let me know what you think in the comments and then also share your thoughts in any space that you listen to the Behavioral Blueprint podcast.
Hey there Behavioral Blueprint listeners, taking a quick break from our exploration of identity today. Before we back in, or go back in, I wanted to take a moment and express my sincere gratitude.
(28:30):
Thank you so much for tuning in. Your support means the world to me, and it fuels my passion for bringing you insightful conversations on our personal growth journey and mental well-being.
Are you enjoying this episode on our identity crisis? We've explored how identities are shaped by biology, psychology, and social cultural factors.
We've also discussed how life transitions can trigger reevaluation even in identity crisis.
(28:55):
The journey doesn't end there. In our second half of the episode, we'll delve into practical strategies for rediscovering your authentic self.
We'll talk about therapy, mindfulness, expressive arts, and how to embrace the ever evolving nature of our identity.
If you're interested in learning more about personal growth and navigating life's transitions, the Behavioral Blueprint podcast is here for you.
(29:17):
Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and follow us on social media to join the conversation and connect with a supportive community.
We'll be back after this short break to continue our exploration of identity.
And on our last segment, we're going to be rediscovering authenticity and purpose, your tools for self-discovering.
Even when facing uncertainties of an identity crisis, there's always going to be hope for growth and self-discovery.
(29:42):
Here are some tools and strategies to help you navigate this journey and reconnect with your authentic self.
Therapy. As I was saying before, therapy is a great decision and honestly changed my life of how I look at my experiences.
A therapist can provide a safe and supportive space for you to explore and also look at the experiences that you've gone through,
(30:03):
unpack the roots of your identity crisis, and develop a healthier self-perception of yourself.
They create you and they also help you challenge your limiting beliefs,
navigating difficult emotions and identify the core values that guide you into your life choices.
Imagining this or have you imagined this? I want my listeners to listen to this because this is really good.
(30:26):
Working with your therapist, you might explore the origins of your current identity struggles.
Perhaps you might have grown up with rigid expectations or experienced a life event that made you shake your sense of self.
Through the guided exploration and the open communication that the therapist can provide for you,
you can always gain a sense of clarity on your values and what you actually feel in those moments.
(30:48):
Now our second one is going to be mindfulness.
Mindfulness practices can help you become more present and aware of your thoughts and feelings.
By observing your inner world without any judgment and just awareness of itself,
you can begin to identify the patterns of how much your thoughts and your emotions influence how you view yourself and the identity of the sense of self.
(31:11):
Take a quiet moment each of the day or each time of the day where you can practice mindfulness meditation.
If you feel like you can close your eyes and just listen to the nice music and meditate for five minutes,
I absolutely recommend it for anybody that's able to do it.
Also observe them without any form of judgment and allow your feelings to pass like clouds in the sky or like water in the river.
(31:37):
Now next, we can go into expressive arts.
Just like this podcast, I use it as an expressive art where I can be a form of understanding myself
or have the chance to go into the self-discovery of looking at what I like and what I don't like
and activities and all these different things that require me to build what I'm building now.
(32:01):
Engaging with the activities that you like and also that can help you express yourself
can make you tap into your unconscious mind and even explore the unhidden or hidden parts of yourself.
Expressing emotions that can even be difficult for you to articulate with words alone can be expressed through the arts that you decide to create.
Now if you think about this, you can set time each day out of the week or each specific month if you decide
(32:30):
where you can create something, where you can just decide this big scribbled piece of paper can just be an expressive thing that I just made on a random Tuesday
because I just wanted to make it.
You can experience the things that are just simply just painting or simply just writing or simply just podcasting if you're into that.
(32:53):
And then lastly, you also want to embrace your fluidity and also look at how your identity is not going to be a fixed destination of where you're going to be at permanently.
Like I was saying before, you're not cemented into the acts of the developmental stages that you're in.
You get to just be six years old and then after that you get to be seven.
(33:14):
After that you get to be eight. You still change. Your body changes and who you are gets to change.
You have to accept that is a natural part of life. Embracing that in the fluidity of your identity can also help you in the long run.
The person that you are today is never going to be the person that you are 10 years from now and that's perfectly okay.
Now think about it like this. Constantly changing but always moving forward.
(33:40):
Your experiences and your perspectives will inevitably evolve over time and accept that.
Learning to understand and celebrate the fluidity is going to be key into navigating the identity challenges that you do get hit with.
Now I did say that the fluidity was the last one but actually this is going to be the last one. I just added it.
Self-acceptance. Ultimately rediscovering your authenticity and purpose requires self-acceptance.
(34:08):
Celebrate your unique journey and who you're becoming. Embrace your strengths and imperfections of who you are.
Let go of the need to conform and control the external expectations of somebody else.
And I do want to also say this. External expectations of other people do not control you.
(34:30):
They do not actually create the things that you are because it's basically somebody else perceiving who you are.
And thinking that they know you or thinking that they can make a judgment upon to you as if it's a thing that they are usually used to doing.
Those people honestly just need to work on themselves even more. But of course we'll get into that later.
(34:55):
Now I do want to make another practice for you guys where you look into the mirror and do mirror exercises.
You look into the mirror again and you repeat the positive affirmations about yourself.
Not just little dots on your hair or little dots on your face.
Go into the things that you don't see in the mirror and the things that you want to appreciate about yourself as well.
(35:16):
Creating that form of self-compassion just looking at yourself and creating a form of acceptance visually
can cultivate a strong sense of self-worth in moving forward with your confidence long term and even short term.
And I just want to give you guys a reminder. These things are just tools.
Create the path of self-discovery of being who you are is going to be unique for every person.
(35:39):
Be patient with yourself and celebrate your progress, your wins, your losses, and all the things that you need support in.
There's always going to be a whole world waiting for you.
And always know that this world is going to be here for you just because you simply exist.
Wow. That was a deep dive into the world of identity crisis.
(36:00):
Thank you so much for joining us today on the Behavioral Boop Paint.
This episode is going to be extra special because it's my birthday tomorrow.
We're so grateful for the support that you continue to use in this podcast and listening with us.
As we journey together through the self-discovery understanding, remember, even the small achievements are worth celebrating.
Did you finally conquer that mindfulness practice that you were wanting to try?
(36:24):
Maybe you had a conversation with that person that was going to be kind of difficult as usual.
Acknowledge those wins.
No matter how small they seem, those are stepping stones into your path of a more fulfilling life.
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(36:45):
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(37:34):
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Welcome back to the Behavioral Blueprint podcast.
(00:03):
Today, we're going to be diving deep into the question that pops up in our various points in our lives.
Who are we?
We'll be exploring the concept of identity crisis and how life transitions into trigger of reevaluation.
Ultimately, how to navigate this journey of self-discovery.
Our sense of self isn't who we think we are in this very moment.
(00:25):
It's a complex tapestry woven from various different threads.
From our biology, our temperament, and also our psychology and the cultures that we navigate within ourselves.
Imagine a child discovering their personality, their likes, their dislikes, their strengths, and their weaknesses.
This exploration continues through adolescence as we grapple with societal expectations and we forge our own paths.
(00:50):
Young adulthood often brings another wave of self-discovery.
As we choose careers, navigate relationships, and potentially even start families,
throughout life these threads of biology, psychology, and sociocultural influences continue to intertwine in shaping our evolving sense of self.
(01:11):
It's really, really hard out here sometimes.
Especially when we really do have to take into the fact that these things and these very big parts of understanding our identity
play a part with who we are today and where we like things and how we like things and where we go with our dislikes and strengths and weaknesses like they were saying.
(01:32):
Or I'm sorry, like I was saying.
And I also do want to go over how important it is to give yourself grace because sometimes you have to even question where is this coming from.
And if you don't know like one parent or if you don't know anything like even genetically or just long term of where these things are coming from, really just revert back into your childhood.
(01:59):
Now, let's go into the life key span and the key milestones that you went through.
Think about whenever you were first born to 12 years old, that early developmental stage where you're finally understanding shapes, colors,
people, senses, smells, touch, grip, and all of those other things that are completely relevant into your life.
(02:23):
Then after that, let's go straight into playing and exploration.
Throughout play, children experiment with the roles in their lives, interests in how things socially even make sense.
How does this wood chip on the ground connect to me and what does it mean to me?
Then also family and culture, family dynamics, cultural norms, expectations, and then lastly, significantly influencing children's developmental stages of self.
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When we are from birth to 12 years old, all of these things that are possibly not normal or possibly just continued in toxic cycles are playing a very present role in our systems and routines.
We don't identify them because we don't even know what other people's personal lives look like at those stages because we don't think about the importance of that.
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We also don't think about what it means to deal with anything that we do with as a young age.
After that, we go into our adolescent stage.
We have an increased self-awareness compared to how we were from birth to 12 years old.
This adolescent stage is 13 to 19.
Teenagers, of course, become more self-aware and more self-conscious about the environment that they're in and understanding the space of independence.
(03:43):
I do know when I was 15, 16, all I wanted was a car.
I wanted to be in a space of thinking that I had the things that I wanted and also being able to drive whenever I wanted and leave the house whenever I wanted.
I also did have my own form of identity through clothing, music, and peer groups, and you would have the same as well.
Look at the societal expectation and also comparison that you put onto yourself, especially from that 13 to 19 year old age stage.
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It really gets weird where you have to think that you have to do this thing because somebody else is doing this or you have to look at this or like this because somebody else is connecting to it.
That 13, 14, 15 stage, girl, I was a groupie.
I was always doing other stuff because other people wanted me to do it or because it just looked cool.
Well, in reality, I was just hiding in a form of a shell thinking that that was going to be safe for me because that's all I knew.
(04:37):
Now, lastly, it's also going to be looking at the developmental stages and values of your belief.
Adolescents, of course, grapple with the moral questions and forming their own values of beliefs when they really want to go away from the fact of where they're usually believing those values and beliefs that they had growing up.
Sometimes when you have those aware or self-awareness and having the increased self-awareness that we were just talking about, you realize, hey, that person isn't healthy.
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That's in my family or hey, this person is actually very rude to me and they're using me and I don't know what to do.
How do I even go towards answering the problem?
And then lastly, looking at young adulthood, 20s through 40s.
I personally think that 20s and 30s is young adulthood personally because 40 girl, girl, girl, but an emerging adulthood.
(05:32):
This period often is marked by launching careers, starting careers, establishing the serious and romantic relationships in your life, potentially just even starting families if you feel so and also finally tapping into your semicircle of friends.
These experiences significantly, of course, influence your identity long term.
(05:55):
How do you deal with your life transitions?
Young adults, of course, navigate career changes, relocation and other life transitions that can trigger reevaluation of sense of self.
Then also you can look at how much these things in your life mean to you.
Like I know a lot of people that are starting very serious jobs thinking that they are supposed to be there for the next 20 years when girl, where is the earth going to be in the next 20 years, girlfriend?
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I don't even know where we're going to be.
Where are you going to be?
You know, like when we died, taxes and death are like the two main things that we know we're going to be taken care of.
And that's not fair or real to us.
But that's our society right now.
And it's completely very difficult.
But when you go into understanding how the things that trigger you or the things that change you and the things that make you question your sense of self, it also looks at how you can have a duality relationship with intimacy and even isolation.
(06:56):
How do you answer and avoid problems that you deal with?
Also connecting with the Eric Erickson psychological stages of emphasizing importance of forming close relationships.
This is purposely bullet pointed in my basically in my notes, because I wanted to go over this very, very, very, very quickly.
(07:18):
And then also importantly, how can we look at intimacy versus isolation?
Isolation is really just seen as thinking you have to be by yourself and being able to thrive by yourself and being able to be by yourself and do well.
But when in reality, everything that we know of and everything that we're connected to has a form of community.
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Our families are forms of communities, our schools are forms of communities, our spaces of growing up are forms of communities.
Excuse me.
Even when we're in spaces of thinking that we are alone, we do have community and we can't get away from thinking that we just have to isolate or be by ourselves just to further grow.
(08:03):
And people usually do that whole thing where they're like, oh, get off the fence of the planet earth for 30 days.
What?
I mean, it is kind of healthy, but I should let my family and friends know that I'm going to just not be on social media or not just interact with people.
And I think that we are in a space right now where we're losing the importance of intimacy.
(08:28):
We're actually kind of scared of each other.
Like we deal with ghosting very often with certain people.
I know because I unfortunately was a habitual goaster that I was avoiding intimacy.
I was avoiding being close with people because I used to think that that was something that was going to consume me and make me a terrible person.
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When in reality, those are the things that you can actually connect with that make you a better person.
Now, I do want you to remember these three things.
These are very important for you.
These general milestones and individual development stages that you're going to be in varies from person to person.
You are not just a piece of paper.
You're not just a number and you're not just this one person.
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You are multiple different lines of ancestors adding up to who you are.
Identify the exploration stages of where you're at in your life with ongoing reevaluations of where you want to be.
Slowly and very small, smally if that's a word, tweaking these small things of where you are to have the personal growth and also have the effect after you do the cause of work.
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Factors like culture, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity can play significant influences on these processes.
Eric Erickson, psychological stages emphasizes the importance of forming close relationships with which can further shape identity.
(10:04):
Eric Erickson, psychological stages emphasizes the importance of forming close relationships.
I'm going to go ahead and link that down below so you guys can check out Eric Erickson.
He's really cool and I did a couple minutes of research on how much having relationships plays a part in our lives.
Negative or positive when it comes down to close friends or close relationships and how much even like the short term things, especially if you're a lesbian, you know how those you have relationships really could look and those can really wreck you the easiest because you put expectation into those.
(10:42):
Now just remember, these are going to be general milestones you don't understand what it means where you can have a crash at a young age, or have something very normal happen to you at 34.
You also have an identity exploration where you continue the things throughout your life, you have to go into reevaluating your adjustments and also your experiences for personal growth.
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So take every single day, like a grain of salt, and also form a space of acceptance and love for yourself throughout these days, because every single day is a purpose in every single day is a moment for you to truly become who you are.
Let's explore some major life events that can trigger reevaluation of your identity.
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Career changes, relationship milestones like we were talking about loss, and also relocation.
These things are major anchors of where your actual life can change.
And where do we go after these very normal things that people see in your life as just stepping stones can actually impact where you're supposed to be in your identity, plus also where you're supposed to be in your life.
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The most normal one is going to be your career, dedicating years to a career path and then encountering new opportunities or unexpected circumstances that can make you reevaluate where you're supposed to go is going to be something that can challenge your inner vision of where you're supposed to be and who you're supposed to be.
Recently, I dealt with a situation where I had to question my career, I had to question where I was supposed to go professionally, and it made me feel like I had to get into a deeper setting of looking at my thoughts and looking at the natural way of where I go, I usually internalize very quickly.
(12:36):
And I make it as if everything is my fault because of how I used to grow up. I grew up in a home and I also grew up in a space where I feel like I had to just decide that it was me being the issue, rather in comparison, that some things just mess up and some things just don't work out.
People put weight on careers because of course we have to pay the bills, we have to commit to this life that honestly capitalism has created and we have to slave our hours and days away, just to make by, and I really don't love the fact that we have to create our whole identity
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in careers because we should just choose to have a job in my opinion, I can go deeper into that if you guys want me to. But I do want to just cover over the fact that careers do change where you are, but they aren't going to be the concrete thing that is meant to be in your life.
I dealt with something like last year, where I was laid off from this job that was considered like the big girl job and I had this big girl career, making these big girl checks, but nobody really knew that I was in the worst mental state of my life, because one, yeah, my trauma, my past and where I, and how I answer problems, but then also
(13:57):
the environment that I was in professionally made me question if I was enough, and no job, no job should ever make you question if you are enough and slash if you're important. These things that honestly make you feel like you aren't important or slash make you feel like you have to fulfill yourself professionally to please other people is never the way to go at all.
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Now let's talk about relationship milestones milestones and relationships whether marriage commitment ceremonies breakups, or even emptiness syndrome can also trigger self reflection deeply.
You might also question how these changes impact your identity as a single person as a partner, or even a parent if you're listening.
My biggest perspective that I've recently realized with relationship milestones is that every person can be a different experience, but it doesn't change the fact that if you're dealing with the same issue and avoiding where you're where you're at, and also what you're supposed to be doing.
(14:59):
You will be showed that problem consistently and questioning what is going on with yourself when it's truly who you are, and where you're supposed to be.
I'm a person that also looks at avoidance. Am I avoiding the problem, am I avoiding the relationship am I avoiding the person that I care about.
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Where do I want to relieve the situation where do I want to go into taking care of myself or the other person. I personally do know about all the things that listed like emptiness syndrome and how you don't think that you can really have this person really live off on their
be of their own person, because you're scared that they're going to hurt themselves or breakups, and how, unfortunately, they can be truly damaging but they change you. My longest form of change was always going to really be the breakup that I went through earlier this
(15:55):
will last year, actually, yeah, the breakup that I went through last year, it truly changed me because I understood what it meant I did every single thing in the book, if you guys are on tik tok.
There's this trend where it's like, did all these things and I still didn't break up with him. Why would I ever post that I did every single thing that you could imagine in this breakup, and even when we were getting together.
(16:27):
And I learned that there is nothing that you can do when somebody just doesn't want to be with you. There is nothing that you can do when a job just doesn't want you anymore, there is nothing that you can do when it's in control of somebody else's hand.
The thing that you can control is how you respond, and how you take care of yourself after the form of losing and easily going into the next sequence is going to be loss, understanding that loss and losing a loved one or a significant relationship in your life is deeply an unsettling
(17:02):
experience. It can make you question your role in life, and also your purpose and who you're supposed to be out in the world and then also who you're supposed to be without the person in your world.
I have lost a lot of people. I usually used to make it very simple, as if it wasn't a big deal but I'm a deeply sensitive person. And I think I want to ask all of my listeners. Where does loss, make you go after you lose the thing that you didn't expect to lose.
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It creates a form of disassociation for me. It makes me feel like I can't progress, or be without this person. In therapy I really address my abandonment issues but then I also talked to my therapist actually.
And we had a conversation about how, whenever we deal with traumatic situations it's not going to usually be new. It's usually like a cassette tape where you're listening to the same song over and over again when you're re triggered from your past.
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One of my main triggers is abandonment issues. I really struggled with understanding how much my triggers and also my traumatic feelings played a part in my everyday relationships.
I'm completely off and I don't speak to anyone. And then there's times where I'm completely hyperactive and I want to overdo in my relationships, because whenever I had to learn what it meant in any type of stability emotionally with my family or with my parents.
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It was strictly not going to be emotionally stable. And it created a point for me to question if I was going to understand where I had to be. And then also my perspective of relationships.
I used to think that relationships are completely transactional, or only when the person wants to be with me. And that's not fair to myself or anybody else that's looking to have a relationship with me, or even a friendship, or even professional.
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And lastly, anything from external. I think the biggest thing that is important for anyone is that you are a person in your own world. You create the identity of yourself.
Loss isn't the end. It's truly just the beginning of a new form of who you are. Just like how snakes shed their skin every now and again, you have to shed your skin of who you thought you had to be.
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Lastly, for this, it's going to be relocation. Moving to a new city or country can completely disrupt your established social networks and cultural norms.
You might be questioning your belonging, your sense of self in the new environment and grapple with the feelings of isolation.
Plus, you really can understand how much it means to really construct your life over again and become who you have to be.
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I understand relocation. I used to think that relocation just meant, oh, just a different city. No, girl. You do not have the bomb-ass fucking Chinese restaurant around the corner that you can call it 3 a.m. anymore.
You don't have that anymore. And moving from a space that was very strongly predominantly black and then moving to a very predominantly white space, you understand palettes. You understand how lacking of palettes can be when you go into relocating yourself.
(20:46):
I've been in a different city compared to where I grew up for like the past two years, and I love the quietness here. But I also know that my environment has changed because I have to drive very far sometimes to just go get something to eat or go hang out with my friends.
It changed how I looked at myself, and it also changed how I looked at accessing people. How many people are worth my time? How many people are worth my space? How many people can touch my things or where I'm supposed to be?
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Relocating at first was very difficult because I just didn't know anybody. I was graduating on my own and I didn't really know anybody, and the relationships that I had after I graduated from high school just didn't really go strongly into the way that I wanted them to be.
I had to watch my friends that I grew up with graduate online, and it was a completely stilling experience that I don't think that has been taken care of or watched enough, especially from Gen Z's point of view, and also from of course, older generations that don't look at emotional aspects.
(21:59):
But relocating and changing who you are and changing your networks can be a beneficial thing, but emotionally in you and also in the environment that you're in, how can you trust the things that you don't know?
And for me, I really go into just going head first and going to the crazy off the wall restaurant and having the best experience with the owner because you just simply started a conversation. Making it where you are the oddball out, but you really make it clear that it doesn't matter where you're located. You can be the person that you want to be.
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I wanted to put the questions last, and your trigger questions can usually look like this. What are your true strengths and passions? What kind of work fulfills me? How do I want to define myself in this new relationship dynamic? Who am I without this person in my life? How do I adjust to this new environment and build a sense of belonging?
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Now, we're going to go over challenges of identity for diverse communities. Reconciling with cultural expectations, societal norms, and personal identity can be particularly difficult for members of diverse communities, minorities, and also the LGBTQ community and any other communities.
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Usually the challenges that are faced are going to be pressured to conform to family traditions, especially if you are a very traditional family. Even if they clash with personal values and aspirations, it can lead to an internal struggle.
Limited definitions of gender roles, sexual orientation, and family structures can limit and create stress of the identity of itself if you don't know how to neatly fit into these categories.
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The challenges with understanding these issues of identity in diverse communities can usually feel like not fitting in visibility, pressure to conform, and difficulty to reconcile with different aspects of who you are.
I know that that was really a tongue twister, but I really do want to say that as a person who really did come out very young, I didn't have a choice with basically tongueing down or swallowing my family's homophobia.
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I used to defend so many people where it made it completely uncomfortable for me to speak up about these things and also defend myself. Like I was saying earlier, I used to feel like there was something that I was just doing wrong growing up.
So if I was just growing up and telling my parents, hey, y'all, a little gay, of course it can be very difficult to connect the personal values that they created for me with their expectations and also how I can even look at myself because there's not usually gay black auntie in the family that just knows how to guide you and brush you up into be the person that you want to be.
(25:03):
It can be completely difficult, especially when you don't understand societal norms, and if you don't have the people that are like you around you, people will completely judge you for who you are as if it's an issue in their life and you are inconvenienced in their life when in reality, they don't need to know anything of who you are.
(25:25):
And I absolutely relate to like the pressure conforming because I have noticed myself that I mask very well, and I am kind of kind of fake when it comes down to smiling in somebody's face and then walking away and being like what the fuck did I just experience, because I feel like being in a very cis head community.
(25:49):
It makes you really look at, oh, these are how people think this is how people think this is how people believe in themselves it's insane. I don't think that it's going to be something like this very long, because of course Gen Z is very Gen Z.
If you watch Gen Z you know that show is so good. But Gen Z is just changing and creating new labels and we are breaking the ceiling with anything that goes into conforming people because we believe in liberation.
(26:23):
Just to summarize, challenges of identity for diverse communities can be extremely difficult, but looking into the mirror of yourself and who you are is always going to be the thing that makes you into the person that you want to be.
Look into the goals that you want to have for yourself and the future that you want to create for yourself. If you're in any of these moments of fear, or even in these spaces of diverse communities where you think that you can't be yourself.
(26:54):
Just talking to other people online and making it very clear that you are your own identity, and it takes time for you to fully understand where you're supposed to be. It's not going to just be in 20 years it's going to take time.
So if you are not queer and black in any, any, any person that is in a space of the LGBTQ community or is non-binary trans, I love you and you are seen you are heard and valued.
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The uncertainty of identity crisis is these reevaluations and challenges can lead to an identity crisis. You might start questioning everything that you thought about yourself, who you are, where you go, where your values are in even your goals.
This feeling of uncertainty can be overwhelming but it's an opportunity for growth.
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One of the indicators of the identity crisis is understanding where you're questioning core values and beliefs are and where they go, feeling lost about anything that you feel uncertainty in your, in your future goals, difficulty in making decisions and feeling like you just don't belong anywhere.
(28:06):
Have you ever experienced an identity crisis before? How did you navigate it? Let me know what you think in the comments and then also share your thoughts in any space that you listen to the Behavioral Blueprint podcast.
Hey there Behavioral Blueprint listeners, taking a quick break from our exploration of identity today. Before we back in, or go back in, I wanted to take a moment and express my sincere gratitude.
(28:30):
Thank you so much for tuning in. Your support means the world to me, and it fuels my passion for bringing you insightful conversations on our personal growth journey and mental well-being.
Are you enjoying this episode on our identity crisis? We've explored how identities are shaped by biology, psychology, and social cultural factors.
We've also discussed how life transitions can trigger reevaluation even in identity crisis.
(28:55):
The journey doesn't end there. In our second half of the episode, we'll delve into practical strategies for rediscovering your authentic self.
We'll talk about therapy, mindfulness, expressive arts, and how to embrace the ever evolving nature of our identity.
If you're interested in learning more about personal growth and navigating life's transitions, the Behavioral Blueprint podcast is here for you.
(29:17):
Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and follow us on social media to join the conversation and connect with a supportive community.
We'll be back after this short break to continue our exploration of identity.
And on our last segment, we're going to be rediscovering authenticity and purpose, your tools for self-discovering.
Even when facing uncertainties of an identity crisis, there's always going to be hope for growth and self-discovery.
(29:42):
Here are some tools and strategies to help you navigate this journey and reconnect with your authentic self.
Therapy. As I was saying before, therapy is a great decision and honestly changed my life of how I look at my experiences.
A therapist can provide a safe and supportive space for you to explore and also look at the experiences that you've gone through,
(30:03):
unpack the roots of your identity crisis, and develop a healthier self-perception of yourself.
They create you and they also help you challenge your limiting beliefs,
navigating difficult emotions and identify the core values that guide you into your life choices.
Imagining this or have you imagined this? I want my listeners to listen to this because this is really good.
(30:26):
Working with your therapist, you might explore the origins of your current identity struggles.
Perhaps you might have grown up with rigid expectations or experienced a life event that made you shake your sense of self.
Through the guided exploration and the open communication that the therapist can provide for you,
you can always gain a sense of clarity on your values and what you actually feel in those moments.
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Now our second one is going to be mindfulness.
Mindfulness practices can help you become more present and aware of your thoughts and feelings.
By observing your inner world without any judgment and just awareness of itself,
you can begin to identify the patterns of how much your thoughts and your emotions influence how you view yourself and the identity of the sense of self.
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Take a quiet moment each of the day or each time of the day where you can practice mindfulness meditation.
If you feel like you can close your eyes and just listen to the nice music and meditate for five minutes,
I absolutely recommend it for anybody that's able to do it.
Also observe them without any form of judgment and allow your feelings to pass like clouds in the sky or like water in the river.
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Now next, we can go into expressive arts.
Just like this podcast, I use it as an expressive art where I can be a form of understanding myself
or have the chance to go into the self-discovery of looking at what I like and what I don't like
and activities and all these different things that require me to build what I'm building now.
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Engaging with the activities that you like and also that can help you express yourself
can make you tap into your unconscious mind and even explore the unhidden or hidden parts of yourself.
Expressing emotions that can even be difficult for you to articulate with words alone can be expressed through the arts that you decide to create.
Now if you think about this, you can set time each day out of the week or each specific month if you decide
(32:30):
where you can create something, where you can just decide this big scribbled piece of paper can just be an expressive thing that I just made on a random Tuesday
because I just wanted to make it.
You can experience the things that are just simply just painting or simply just writing or simply just podcasting if you're into that.
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And then lastly, you also want to embrace your fluidity and also look at how your identity is not going to be a fixed destination of where you're going to be at permanently.
Like I was saying before, you're not cemented into the acts of the developmental stages that you're in.
You get to just be six years old and then after that you get to be seven.
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After that you get to be eight. You still change. Your body changes and who you are gets to change.
You have to accept that is a natural part of life. Embracing that in the fluidity of your identity can also help you in the long run.
The person that you are today is never going to be the person that you are 10 years from now and that's perfectly okay.
Now think about it like this. Constantly changing but always moving forward.
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Your experiences and your perspectives will inevitably evolve over time and accept that.
Learning to understand and celebrate the fluidity is going to be key into navigating the identity challenges that you do get hit with.
Now I did say that the fluidity was the last one but actually this is going to be the last one. I just added it.
Self-acceptance. Ultimately rediscovering your authenticity and purpose requires self-acceptance.
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Celebrate your unique journey and who you're becoming. Embrace your strengths and imperfections of who you are.
Let go of the need to conform and control the external expectations of somebody else.
And I do want to also say this. External expectations of other people do not control you.
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They do not actually create the things that you are because it's basically somebody else perceiving who you are.
And thinking that they know you or thinking that they can make a judgment upon to you as if it's a thing that they are usually used to doing.
Those people honestly just need to work on themselves even more. But of course we'll get into that later.
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Now I do want to make another practice for you guys where you look into the mirror and do mirror exercises.
You look into the mirror again and you repeat the positive affirmations about yourself.
Not just little dots on your hair or little dots on your face.
Go into the things that you don't see in the mirror and the things that you want to appreciate about yourself as well.
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Creating that form of self-compassion just looking at yourself and creating a form of acceptance visually
can cultivate a strong sense of self-worth in moving forward with your confidence long term and even short term.
And I just want to give you guys a reminder. These things are just tools.
Create the path of self-discovery of being who you are is going to be unique for every person.
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Be patient with yourself and celebrate your progress, your wins, your losses, and all the things that you need support in.
There's always going to be a whole world waiting for you.
And always know that this world is going to be here for you just because you simply exist.
Wow. That was a deep dive into the world of identity crisis.
(36:00):
Thank you so much for joining us today on the Behavioral Boop Paint.
This episode is going to be extra special because it's my birthday tomorrow.
We're so grateful for the support that you continue to use in this podcast and listening with us.
As we journey together through the self-discovery understanding, remember, even the small achievements are worth celebrating.
Did you finally conquer that mindfulness practice that you were wanting to try?
(36:24):
Maybe you had a conversation with that person that was going to be kind of difficult as usual.
Acknowledge those wins.
No matter how small they seem, those are stepping stones into your path of a more fulfilling life.
Speaking of growth, we're thrilled to announce that we have our new launch of our new official website.
(36:45):
Head over to thebehavioralbooprintpodcast.com today for a fresh look, helpful resources, and siteful articles, websites, and also how you can support our journey of self-discovery today.
You want even more exclusive content?
Sign up for our newsletter.
It's going to be on the website as well.
We'll be giving out and sending tips and strategies and also informing you guys when we drop the time that we drop, the day that we drop.
(37:11):
Also, we'd love to hear from you.
Share your thoughts on identity exploration in the comments.
Give us a five-star review, and we would appreciate if you can tell us about your own experiences of self-discovery.
Don't forget to join the conversation on social media using the hashtag behavioral blueprint.
This episode is going to be brought to you by the Behavioral Blueprint Studios.
(37:34):
Thank you so much for having a time with me and listening to our podcast.
If you have any questions, you, of course, can ask them below.
And if you want to follow us on social media, all of our acts are going to be behavioral blueprint P.O.V.
Thank you and have a wonderful, beautiful Sunday.
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