Hey!
This podcast is targeting one of the biggest questions we could ask ourselves.
Who am I?
Some of the listeners might know me as a personal trainer,
Some as a life coach,
Some as a sports psychologist,
Some as a fellow traveler,
And some maybe even as a complete stranger.
But what I do know about myself is that I like to move.
I loved sports already from when I was a little child.
I started with playing tennis and hockey,
But soon I also went to more extreme sports like climbing and surfing.
I just simply like to challenge myself in a physical way.
One day I remember canceling a trip I was planning to do and deciding to walk 600 kilometers through the north coast of Spain,
Even though I'd never hiked more than 20 kilometers before,
And I didn't really have hiking shoes either.
Another day I decided to join a triathlon and join a couple of really good triathletes on a triathlon holiday,
Teaching myself how to swim,
Run,
And bike properly so that I was actually able to complete a triathlon.
By keeping on pushing my own boundaries I do not only really physically challenge myself but also mentally.
I love to test myself to see how I hold up in a new situation and to see how I'm capable of so much more than I ever thought before.
But besides moving myself I also love moving other people.
Moving other people is what really counts for me.
I love inspiring people to take a new approach on something or to see things in a new perspective.
I love teaching new things to people and seeing how they discover new things about themselves in the process.
So with this podcast I hope to inspire you to move in whatever way suits you best.
In all the moving I have done over the years I have continuously changed my perspective on who I was depending on what I was doing or how I was acting.
When I was on the road I would consider myself a traveler but when I ran my own business I was an entrepreneur.
When I was still pretending to be a tough cookie I would find myself a very strong and independent woman.
Whereas now I'm also fine if people refer to me as emotional and maybe sometimes even vulnerable.
With my life changing the perspective of who I was as a person changed.
Recently this has been tested with me leaving my boyfriend selling my company and considering to live in Spain.
There was not really much left of who I was as a person.
I could not see myself as a girlfriend anymore nor a coach nor even a person living in Amsterdam.
So the question started going through my head who was I?
I would wake up in the middle of the night and think about who I was without a job without a house and without a relationship.
As there was nothing really new coming straight away to fill up this gap I could neither invent a new identity for myself so I was left without one.
That moment I realized how much I'd secretly hold on to the identities I built for myself and how this had provided me some kind of comfort or safety.
Letting go of these identities was so so scary and far from easy but it did give me a better sense of who I really am as a person so in the end I'm very grateful for having done it.
Even though I could not build a new identity for myself I discovered I was still me even without all these boxes.
I know now that I do not need to build another identity for myself to survive.
Who am I then?
In this period I got to know my core as a person and this core in my opinion exists of my values.
Values that I've been carrying with me all my life but was never so conscious of because I was constantly busy with the other identities I'd built for myself.
But my values actually form a solid identity that will be with me throughout my whole life independent of my job relationship or the place I live in.
An example of a core value I have with me is clarity.
I've kind of hated fakeness all my life.
I hated it when things or people were unclear or confusing and I get annoyed by myself if I am unclear in my communication towards others.
So by knowing this core value I have a reference point to evaluate my situation from.
When I'm on the road and I find myself with people that keep on constantly changing their plans without informing me about it I know why I get annoyed and I know that I can better let go of these people because they're not in line with my value anymore.
By knowing our core values we ultimately know what makes us happy and what we need in life.
I challenge you to find out what your core values are and what you need in your life.
There's a lot of lists on the internet considering of values and I would challenge you to do the minute test.
In the first minute tick all the values you find important.
Don't have a filter on just tick anything that resonates with you really.
In the second minute you can make a list of your top ten values.
So the ten values you find most important and then in a third minute you try to make a list of the maximum of five or six values that you find most important of all.
These need to be values that you have control on.
So for example a value of being inspired is not a really good value since it depends on other people.
You can however have the value to inspire because this is something that you can do something about yourself.
Now once you have your values rate your relationships and friendships,
Your home and your job based on the values you've chosen for yourself.
In which areas are you challenged to stand for your values and how happy do you find yourself in these areas?
I mean I'm curious to see whether there's also a connection between your happiness and your values for you as well.
Just like there was for me.
The clearer you will know what your core values are the easier it will be to create a situation for yourself where you will be happy in.
And the sooner you know what to work on if you find yourself unhappy in a situation.
Who am I?
I can be anyone depending on whatever situation I'm in.
But I know I am myself because I know my own values so I do not need to hold on to an identity to replace this idea of who I am as a person anymore.
I hope this podcast allowed you to come a little bit closer to finding out who you are as a person.
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to comment below and let me know what you think of this podcast.
See you next time!
