Rediscover Yourself – Child – Teen – Adult

Your accomplishments can be things that you achieved recognition for or not, what do you see as your accomplishments? It can be something as simple as learning to bake or something as lofty as winning the Nobel Peace Prize, write from the heart what you personally feel your accomplishments have been.

You have natural talents and acquired talents, some real, and some perceived. Perhaps as a child you thought you were an incredible singer, only to learn you were tone deaf when you tried out for the high school choir. Perhaps you had perfect pitch as a child and you still have it today. Whether perceived or real, the talents you thought you had or think you have are important. Make a notation, is this talent a talent you think you have or thought you had or a talent your parents, teachers, friends, colleagues see or saw in you.

What were your best qualities and what are they now? As we grow older we often lose a lot of the qualities we had in our younger years, think about your personality, your appearance, your learning styles, your levels of curiosity, your openness, your sense of wonder, respect, whatever. Compliment yourself here.

What did you consider your worst flaws when you were younger. As a small child, I thought wearing glasses was a fate worse than death and in my teen years I agonized over my fat legs. My mother hated that I always spoke my mind…list your worst traits and flaws here as you saw them and as others perceived you (Mom and Dad when you were a child, your peers when you were a teen, your significant other now). Note on your list whether it was yourself, or others who saw you in a certain way.

Who are your heroes today and who were they when you were younger? Did you idolize your mother, father, aunt, uncle, teacher? Did you admire particular historical figures, public figures or writers? Did you fantasize about Superman or some fictional hero or heroine? Why are these people/characters important to you? Observe here why and how your heroes have changed or not changed over the years and think of the traits you admired in them.

What were your passions, your favourite things to do as a child, a teen, adult? How many of the things that you got absolute pure pleasure out of when you were younger do you still do today? Have you lost touch with some of the simple pleasures that made you happy when you were younger? Something as simple as remembering your childhood fantasies of being a great singer could lead to your singing more in the shower and finding pleasure in it.

The music you love, the books you cherish, the TV shows you tune into regularly, the movies that thrill and inspire all say a bit about you. It’s great fun to take a walk down memory lane with this exercise, share it with your family and friends. This can be especially fun with movies as you compare a favourite movie from 20 years ago, say, with a movie made this year. Did you love Pride and Prejudice when you were younger, have you read it recently? What about listening to your favourite band or singer from your teen years?

What were the saddest moments in your life? What personal or global events made you cry, made you ache, how did these moments affect your life?

Your happiest moments are always fun to recall, that special picnic with your father, your wedding, your graduation, playing board games with your family, going to Disneyland, a vacation, the birth of your child. Make a list of the things that made you happy then and make you happy now – be generous here, write every little thing you can think of down. Try to do this quickly and write everything that pops into your head. It’s fun and it will make you smile, I promise.

What did you want to be when you grew up? What do you want to achieve in your life now? How many of your hopes and dreams have become reality and which ones have changed over the years? As a child you may have dreamed of being a doctor, a policeman, a teacher. As a teen, your life goals may have changed to reflect your actual talents a bit more, and as an adult, they may have changed based on reality, based on opportunities and responsibilities. Your hopes and dreams can also be general, being popular, helping others, seeing the ocean, writing a book…write them all down. Do you have fewer hopes and dreams now then you did as a child? If so, we are going to try to change that!

What did you believe in and what do you believe in now? As a child perhaps you believed in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the omnipresence of your parents. As a teen, maybe you were a rebel and believed that all adults were idiots. As an adult, maybe you have strong beliefs about God, about right and wrong, about yourself. What were the beliefs that shaped you and what are they now?

Fear and insecurity are great cripplers. We all need fear in our life, to be totally fearless would be dangerous and reckless, you need to be afraid of things that might harm you physically, most of these fears are instinctual or taught to us at an early age. Other fears, the fears that really pervade our lives and cripple us are emotional, they are often irrational, and they almost always stop us from achieving all we can. What have your greatest fears been in your life? Fear of failure, success, disapproval, water, flying, public speaking, snakes, spiders, not being loved…there are many things to be afraid of and knowing those fears and conquering them can free you to live more fully.

You have had goals and objectives all of your life, from the first time you cried because you were hungry to your present day long and short term goals. What were your conscious goals and obectives when you were a child or teen and what are they today? Did you want to win a contest, learn to play a sport, go to a specific college, create something? How did you go about achieving your goals?

Who was in your life in the past and who is in it now? What do the people in your life mean to you? What are your most important relationships and what were they in the past?

What were you most grateful for as a child, teen, and now? What things in your life do you give thanks for?