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Are you on a Self-discovery journey?

28/5/2019

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My self-discovery Journey started a few years ago. I wanted to know myself better and work towards things that were important to me. Realizing that I am fully responsible for my destiny, not my family or my background helped me take action. I use the term journey because it is continuous; I don’t see this journey ending anytime soon. As I discover more about myself, I uncover other parts of me that I want to explore more of and develop.

In this blog post, we will explore the definition of self-discovery, some tools to help you as well as questions you can ask yourself to start on your journey.

What is self-discovery?
  • becoming aware of one's true potential, character, motives, etc. (Source: Collins Dictionary)
  • the process of learning about yourself and your beliefs. (Source: Cambridge Dictionary)
  • the act or process of gaining knowledge or understanding of your abilities, character, and feelings. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
  • new knowledge and understanding that you get about your feelings and about the type of person that you are. (Macmillan Dictionary)

What tools can you use on your self-discovery journey?

Tool #1: Self-reflection
Making time to think about your experiences, your potential, and your future is crucial. There is so much you can learn from reflecting on past experiences and where you are now. Towards the end of every year, we get reminded to reflect on the past year and plan for the new year. I have found power in taking the time to reflect more often than once a year. Every Friday morning, I spend about 30 minutes reflecting on my week.

Tool #2: Journaling
Writing things down in a journal can be very therapeutic. While I reflect, I write down the highlights and the lowlights of my week. Especially if you are feeling overwhelmed, creating a list of things you are grateful for helps adjust your perspective. Another benefit of journaling is offloading your heavy thoughts. This frees up your mind for new ideas and enables you to move on.

Tool#3: Self-assessments
There are great tools out there that can help you discover the power that lies within you. I have taken some great assessments that have helped me either uncover my strengths or learn how to articulate them. The top two self-assessments that I recommend for everyone to take are Strengthsfinder 2.0 and Personality Types.

Tool #4: Learning
Interestingly as you learn new things, you discover more about your interests, your strengths, and potential. There are many skills that I did not know I had until I started learning something new or taking classes. Learning for me has not only helped me discover more of my skills; it has helped me improve them and do more of what I enjoy doing.

Tool #5: Community
Surrounding yourself with people who are also on a journey to discover themselves is very important. I value the ladies in my community a lot. Although we are all on our journeys, sharing our experiences encourages us. It's great that we don't have to be alone on the incredible quest to get to know ourselves better.

How well do you know yourself?
Some inspiration questions to ask yourself to get to know yourself better:
  1. Strengths: What do I enjoy, and what am I good at doing?
  2. Improvement Areas: What do I enjoy but could get better at doing?
  3. Priorities: What is the most important thing in my life? Who are the most important people in my life?
  4. Plan for the future: What is one thing I set out to do this year that I succeeded in doing?
  5. Motivation: What motivates me to do great things? What demotivates me?

Call to Action
Have you thought about yourself lately? Make time to discover yourself.
Do you appreciate yourself? Celebrate yourself today.

Final Thoughts
  • To achieve great things, we need to bring our whole selves - all of our strengths and talents.
  • Make personal growth and development a priority
  • Invest in yourself and reap the benefits.

Great Resources
  • Begin Your Journey Of Self Discovery
  • How Self-Reflection Can Help Leaders Stay Motivated
  • 20 Questions That Can Help You Reach Your 2019 Goals
  • 6 Steps to Discover Your True Self
  • Steps to Discovering Yourself as a Woman
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How to master the art of self-promotion

21/5/2019

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Have you ever heard people say "to get ahead you have to self-promote"? Initially, this statement made me uncomfortable. However, as I have progressed in my career, I fully agree with the importance of being able to promote myself. I recently attended an "Iamremarkable" training and it made me start thinking about the power of self-promotion. Making time to think about what makes me remarkable and sharing with people around me made me feel empowered and proud.
 
In this blog post, we will explore the definition of self-promotion, reasons to promote yourself as well as tips to help you learn how to promote yourself.
 
What does self-promotion mean?
  • things that you do or say in order to make people notice you and think you are important (Source: Macmillian)
  • the act of furthering one's own growth, advancement, or prosperity : the promotion of oneself (Source: Merriam Webster)
  • To publicize, advertise, promote, or sell one’s own features and benefits in order to achieve personal and professional goals. (Source: McCombs Career Webinar)
  • To attempt to further, advance, foster, boost, support, or to advocate for the fulfillment of one’s own needs and personal & professional goals. (Source: McCombs Career Webinar)
 
Reasons why you need to promote yourself
  • You owe it to yourself - If you don't who will?
  • Being able to promote yourself will help you grow and achieve greatness.
  • You can be a role model for girls and women.
 
Mastering the art of promoting yourself
Explore some questions to help you assess how well you promote yourself and tips to start self-promotion.
 
Do you know you are remarkable?
Let's start with the most important thing - you are unique and amazing. There is no one like you on this earth. I know we are not trained to love ourselves. There are many negative words used to describe self-love. It's time to break free from that mold and start loving yourself. It's ok that you're not perfect. You are you!
 
MC's Tip: Accept and celebrate your whole self.
 
How do you talk about yourself?
When people ask you the question "tell me about yourself," it can be a difficult question to answer, especially if you are not prepared with a response. Thinking of an answer on the spot does not come easy to most of us. The good news is that you can learn how to talk about yourself. Personally, thinking about the one thing I want people to remember about me after they walk away from our conversation helps me. There are many great resources that can help you perfect the first impression.
 
MC's Tip: Practice introducing and talking about yourself as much as you can. It will get better with time.
 
Do you know and talk about your strengths?
Many of us find it hard to talk about what we do well. A few years ago, I started my journey to discover my strengths. I found it easier to talk about my weaknesses but struggled to think about my strengths. Read more on how I discovered my superpowers in my post, "Know your strengths." Talking about your strengths is what gets you those great opportunities.
 
MC's Tip: Discover your strengths and talk about them.
 
How do you talk about your accomplishments?
It took me a long while to embrace the opportunities to promote myself. I believed that my work will speak for itself and that I didn't need to do anything else. Especially with my move to the US, that theory was proven wrong. Doing great work is essential; however, talking about it may be more important in some cases.
 
MC's Tip: Start tracking your accomplishments and celebrate them.
 
How can you learn to promote yourself more?
We all know those people who quickly talk about their skills and services in every conversation. Two things may happen when we hear them. We either dislike their approach or feel impressed by their ability to promote themselves. I want to encourage you to surround yourself with people who self-promote well. It will help you learn how to promote yourself.  
 
MC's Tip: Observe people around you who promote themselves well and get ahead. Start promoting yourself.
 
Call to Action
What makes you remarkable? Think about three things that make you amazing and share it with three people this week.
What makes the people around you remarkable? Ask people about themselves and give them the opportunity to promote themselves.
 
Final Thoughts
  • When we start thinking about our strengths and talking about them, they become more prominent.
  • People need to know how amazing you are, tell them.
  • Promote yourself and don't be shy!
 
Great Resources
  • Stand Out for Success: The Secrets of Self-Promotion
  • Building Relationships: 11 Rules for Self-Promotion
  • Self Promotion Is A Leadership Skill
  • 5 Tips for Practicing Self-promotion Without Being Totally Annoying
  • How To Take The Shame Out Of Self-Promotion
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VIDEO: My Relocation Journey

18/5/2019

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Do you dare to do something great?

14/5/2019

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Have you been thinking about doing something bold? What has been holding you back?
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Earlier this year, the ladies in one of my Mastermind groups read a book titled "Daring Greatly" by Brene Brown. Reading the book and sharing learnings with great women challenged me to take bold steps this year. I had started the year with my theme of "being bold," but now I knew that I had to dare to do greater things.
 
In this blog post, I will share some steps to set your daring greatly goal and my journey to do great things this year.
 
What is a daring greatly goal?
I define this as a goal you are working towards that seems impossible, but you are willing to take the risk and make it happen. It is typically a goal with high personal reward.
 
How to achieve your daring greatly goal
Exploring five steps to help you define your goals and take steps to achieve them.
 
Step 1: Think about the great things you want to do
While we were reading the book, this question stood out to me " What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?". Although I had set my goals for the year, I had to go back and review them to see if they were daring greatly goals. There were some bold goals on my list. However, I felt that I needed to challenge myself to make even more daring moves.  Personally, the bravest things I wanted to do this year were, start my YouTube channel, share my content with more people and ask for a promotion at work.
 
Step 2: Identify what has been holding you back
Now that you know the great things you want to do, it is time to assess the challenges and potential roadblocks. Start by asking yourself why are you not doing the great things yet? Write down what comes to mind when you ask yourself this question. Take as much time as you need and be totally honest. Self-doubt has been one of my biggest roadblocks. I have good ideas, but I'm afraid to share them. Address those fears that are holding you back.
 
Step 3: Get excited about your daring greatly goal
Your daring greatly goal is usually bigger than your typical yearly goals, and it would take you being very excited to achieve them. Think about why you are eager to work on this goal. For me, one of the significant advantages of reading the book as a group was hearing the ladies share their daring greatly goals. Most of them were passions that they had for many years but never got to do. Thinking of working on my daring greatly goals that I sat on for so long excites me. I'm very excited and looking forward to seeing the results.
 
Step 4: Set milestones and define success
Especially when you are working on large goals, it is essential to be clear on what the definition of success is. I have been learning to focus on small milestones and achievements not only on the final result. This helps keep me motivated and excited because I can see the progress I am making towards the bigger goal.
 
Step 5: Take steps towards achieving your goal
Now that you have identified your daring greatly goal, it is time to start taking steps towards it. Especially if this is a goal that you have been sitting on for a while, now is the time to prove to yourself that you can do it. Continue making progress and never give up on your goal.
 
Call to Action
What are your big goals aka daring greatly goals for this year? Think big and start working towards your goals.
 
Final Thoughts
  • Uncovering those big goals and working towards them will bring you great satisfaction.
  • When you look back on this year, imagine the pride you will feel for being bold and taking steps towards achieving a big goal.
  • Be bold and do great things.
 
Great Resources
  • [TED Talk] The power of vulnerability
  • Brene Brown: How Vulnerability Can Make Our Lives Better
  • 5 Steps to Set and Achieve Bold Goals
  • How To Make A Bold Move Towards Your Hardest Goal
  • What is Goal Setting and How to Do it Well
 
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VIDEO: In the News| Picture a leader

11/5/2019

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How to define your cultural identity as you move to different countries

7/5/2019

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Am I Nigerian, German or even American?

For the longest time when people asked me about my cultural identity, I did not know what to respond. The simple question "where are you from?" left me wondering and uncertain. At this point in my life, I have lived in Germany, Nigeria and now in the US.
 
When I started sharing my story as part of my Her relocation blog posts, I received a lot of questions and comments that helped me reflect on my journey. One of the questions that stuck with me was "‘at what point does one stop being an immigrant?". This spoke to the most profound feeling of belonging and identity that I had battled with for a long time.
 
In this post, I will share a little bit of my experience and the five lessons I learned about my cultural identity over the past 18 years living in three countries.
 
MC's Journey
My cultural identity has always been a topic of discussion. Initially, I laughed at the questions and did not think much about it. However, the questions increased with my most recent move. I needed to spend some time thinking about how I define my cultural identity.
The first time I ever used the phrase German-Nigerian to describe myself was when I moved to the US. While I lived in Germany, I identified as Nigerian which is interesting given my mixed heritage. I wonder if I will become German-Nigerian-American when I move to my next country.

On my exploration journey, some of the questions I asked myself were?
  • Who am I and what's my Identity?
  • Where is home to me?
  • How did the countries I have lived in influenced me?

I once heard the phrase from an Asian lady who said her background is Asian, but her culture is black, based on where she grew up in LA. This was the best way I had ever heard someone speak about their cultural identity. For me, my food culture is Nigerian, and my professional culture is German. I am smiling as I write this.
 
Over the years, I have learned that being multi-cultural is an asset, not a weakness. I make it a priority not to let anyone talk about it as a disadvantage. Yes I have an interesting accent, yeah I look different, and I absolutely can't be put in a cultural box. This is what makes me unique.
 
Lessons I learned about my cultural identity
In my 18-years of living in Germany and the US, I learned the following about whom I identify as.
 
#1: You define your identity
People around you will try to define your cultural identity based on how you look or sound. However, the real person that determines your identity is you. Choose what feels right to you.
 
#2: Your identity will change
The experiences you have in the different countries you live in will influence you. Accept the evolution of your identity. This will help you avoid identity crisis and feel comfortable with who you are.
 
#3: You will feel out of place (sometimes)
We go through phases of feeling like we do not belong in the country we are in. Sometimes it happens because of a negative experience.  I want you to know that feeling out of place from time to time is perfectly normal.
 
#4: You will see different sides of identity
Different parts of your identity will be highlighted in different countries or situations that you face. Adapt to your environment and put your best foot forward. Choosing to show one side more does not make you become less of the other side of you. 
 
#5: You will need to inform others about what you identify as
Often, people decide they know my identity by judging my looks or accent. I make it a point to let people know more about my cultural background and Identity. If you don't inform them, you can't be upset when they misidentify you.
 
Final Thoughts
  • Accept your cultural identity and teach people how to deal with your uniqueness.
  • Learn and adapt as you move around.
  • Be open-minded about the influences on your cultural identity.
 
Call to Action
What is your cultural identity? Celebrate your multi-cultural identity.

Check out my previous posts on my relocation story living in Germany and the US.

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VIDEO: My Story | Taking Charge of my Finances

4/5/2019

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    Marie-Christin Anthony
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