Who Stole Your Identity?
Dare to Be the Person You Always Wanted to Be
by
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WHO STOLE YOUR IDENTITY?
Dare to be the person you always wanted to be
Introduction
The purpose of this book is to offer a practical guide to start a process of self-exploration; it provides a framework to analyze your past experiences, search for your true self, and incorporate this new person into your life. What you will learn will help you recover or rediscover your identity, which is crucial in the course of your personal growth. This will result in the increase of self-awareness and self-confidence, the use of strategies to take better care of yourself, and the implementation of changes that will lead to a life full of peace and inner harmony.
Who Stole Your Identity? will be of interest to you if you have ever wondered who you would really like to be. During this journey, you will also learn to more easily identify and manage those things that create unnecessary stress and that perhaps hinder your personal growth. Self-knowledge is one of the most important aspects of this book, since it is my opinion that only by searching your inner self can you discover, accept, and celebrate the person you really are.
This book will help you eliminate those barriers that prevent you from living how you would really like to, in harmony with those values that you consider important in life. Once you achieve your true identity, coping with life stressors will be easier. You will realize that you frequently generate your own stress, and you will understand how your thoughts can often control your life. Sometimes we perceive life challenges as worse than they really are; this happens because in the past, we have learned to think and behave in a certain way.
The first chapter will help you understand how many times, without realizing it, you live based on what you have learned early in life. As a result, sometimes you behave unconsciously and automatically, although later on you may feel that behavior is not the one that really satisfies you. As a consequence, there are times in which you let others define your identity and steal your opportunity of finding out what makes you unique and different from others. Identity is defined as “the set of beliefs and values that determine the way a person thinks and behaves.” In the attempt to discover your identity, you are influenced by your family and significant others in your life, your culture, the society you live in, the profession or occupation you chose, and by many other factors that shape your vision of the world.
Finding your identity—discovering the person you really want to be—requires an internal dialogue and time for reflection. You will also need the courage to make changes or modifications in certain perceptions, attitudes, and behavior. Having the ability for self-reflection and understanding the motives for your behavior form the cornerstone for finding out your true identity. This is the way you start developing more self-confidence and self-love—essential ingredients in the personal growth process of any human being.
The exercises in this book will help you better manage life challenges and behave according to your own standards and values. You will learn to use self-care activities to improve the quality of your life and replenish your energy. You will have the opportunity to analyze the link between your beliefs, thoughts, and behaviors by identifying ways of thinking that might negatively affect your emotional well-being. Socrates, the Greek philosopher, stated, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”1
Of special interest will be to understand the importance of reflecting and writing about what you think and to complete autobiographic exercises that might lead to a deeper perception of your life. These exercises might also help you identify your strengths. It is possible that you may discover wonderful aspects about yourself that you had never thought about. I invite you to embark in this personal growth journey to redesign your life and stop living according to others’ desires and assumptions. At the end, you will enjoy a sense of freedom because as Epictetus, the Greek philosopher, said, “Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else.”2
This book includes the following chapters:
Chapter 1: I have the right to be who I really want to be
Chapter 2: Rethinking the way you think
Chapter 3: Anger cannot be avoided but violence can be
Chapter 4: How to become the person you really want to be
Chapter 5: The importance of self-esteem in personal development
Chapter 6: What is spirituality?
Chapter 7: How to formulate a Personal Transformation Plan
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About the Book
“This book offers a practical insight into positive self-discovery.”
—Yuhwa Eva Lu, PhD, Silver School of Social Work, New York University
“This excellent book teaches us effective strategies for personal transformation.”
—Olga Molina, DSW, School of Social Work, University of Central Florida
“Read this book and allow yourself the pleasure to find the new you.”
—Maria T. Hortal, Human Resources Specialist, Madrid, Spain
“This book is a path to self-discovery. In an entertaining style, Dr. Bosch prompts us to find our own identity.”
—Dora Pozzi, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Houston, Texas
“What could be more relevant in today’s society than to recognize our individuality and to realize our potential for personal growth? This book is a great tool to reach these goals.”
—Conny Emmerich, Social Worker, Eschweiler, Germany
“This book gives you the energy to become the person you really want to be; its practical exercises will help you improve the quality of your life.”
—Octavio de la Suarée, PhD, William Paterson University, New Jersey
When you let others think and decide for you, they steal your identity, what really defines you and makes you unique. This is a simple guide for self-discovery and for learning to live the way you always wanted to. Are you living according to others’ expectations or uncertain about the real meaning of your life? Do you need a plan to transform your life, to become more self-aware and realistic? This is an opportunity to discover the new you.
About the Author
Dr. Isora Bosch, consultant, life coach, and therapist, has a doctoral degree in adult learning and a master’s degree in organizational psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. She has a diploma in industrial psychology from the Complutense University of Madrid and a master’s degree in social work from New York University.