Who are you? Can you fully answer that question without uncertainty? Are you only described by the constraints of your relationship, career or passion?
Out here there is; the person your colleagues know, your family have been seeing, the person strangers give the first impression about. The person who knows the real you is you, there is also a chance you have no clue either.
The journey to self-realization starts with internalizing who you are away from the masses. Self-realization is generally defined as the activation of one’s full potential, talents and abilities.
Eugene K. Choi, A trained life coach in his book how to attain self-realization and become a better you defines self-realization in two ways; psychological and religious.
He says Psychologists Define Self-Realization by the Psychologist Abraham Maslow hierarchy of needs theory which states that to achieve self-realization one needs to have a certain set of needs met before achieving. This is also known as self-actualization.
This means that you need to achieve set goals in different areas, for instance, personal needs to fully realize your potential and true self.
In religions, to attain self-realization you have to connect with your truest self through transcending your mind and body, here you have to believe that there is a much greater you than the physical being.
Self-realization is important because it helps us;
- Gain the ability to monitor our emotions, it helps us handle things like fear, stress and anxiety and rather than acting upon them we use observation and handle them in a controlled space.
- To become more accepting of oneself and others, with self-realization you become the real you among other people making it easier to connect with them thus forming deeper and fruitful relationships.
- Increase self-awareness, self-esteem and confidence, by being able to connect with other people we can be freed from insecurities thus increasing self-confidence among them.
- Improve focus and concentration, self-realization helps us identify distractions thus making us stay on the course of important things in our lives in the process increasing our potential.
We can start developing self-realization by making time for meditation at least 5-10 minutes a day. In this Period avoid all the distractions and take some time by yourself to internalize your past present and future. This will help you take a step back from the craziness of life and recompose yourself to be present for the things that matter most.
You can also change your daily schedule, as human beings our timeline consists of different activities and if done for a long time it becomes a habit, changing some aspects of your daily activities including your environment. For instance, rather than stay on your phone before sleeping, try reading a book, this will engage the mind more positively.
Go to church, mosque or synagogue, your spiritual nourishment is an important part of self-actualization, believing in someone greater than you who can offload your troubles will help clear your mind and decrease life stress.
Aletheia Luna, a prolific psychospiritual writer, author, and spiritual mentor, in her book The spiritual awakening process states that we attain self-awareness through six aspects, self-exploration( (“who am I really?”, “I can’t believe I did/said/believed that!”), self-discovery(moving from what to why), self-understanding (understanding the origins and reasons why you think, feel, and behave the way you do), self-love (being filled with compassion for ourselves and all that we’ve been through), self-transformation (involves shedding old and limiting habits, perceptions, and compulsions that were created by our ego) and self-mastery( balancing our inner and outer worlds, emotions and actions).
We attain self-realization when we stop identifying with the limited ego and attaching to the soul, instead, recognize ourselves as the same as the Divine. It involves Moving past a sense of “me,” “mine,” and “I am”.