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Have you ever lost a game or a tennis match and felt that you were no good as a person?

·Do you feel loved and supported by your support team, no matter if you win or lose?

·Do you make your own choices or are you doing things to please someone else?

·Do you believe what you read and see reported of yourself or other players?

The answers to each of these questions reflect your unique identity: the individual beliefs you hold true; the influences key people in your life have upon you; and the situations and life events you experience.

You are a unique person with special talents and precious gifts.Your personal characteristics interact with your environment to shape your individualIDENTITY.

What is Identity?

It includes the values, beliefs and ideals you consider important and all the unique situations you experience. Your identity will be reshaped throughout your life as you encounter new and different roles, ideas, influences and experiences.

Your self-concept is your own idea of yourself, balanced with what you believe to be others' ideas or opinions of you.

Your self-image is how you would describe yourself to others.

Your self-esteem is how much you value yourself as a unique and worthwhile individual.

Your identity is a blend of these three views of your "self". It includes characteristics that are:

·Fixed /Permanent e.g. race and ethnic background, sex, intelligence, and family structure.

·Flexible /Changeable e.g. where you live, what role religionhas in your life, how you express your sexuality, what you study at school and what career you have chosen.

Discover Your Identity

·Forming your identity is a process that requires two key things to happen:

·1. Experiment: You will actively "try out" different behaviors, beliefs and lifestyles.

·Experimentation helps you decide what fits you best.

·2. Commitment = Thedegree of personal investment you make in a particular set of behaviors, beliefs and lifestyles. The more you invest, the more committed you are.

·A healthy identity is characterized by "flexible strength": a meaningful set of values; commitment to a career path; independence; and an ability to relate to others with respect and a willingness to learn. A person with healthy identity understands she has unique talents and characteristics and is a special individual.

·Without a healthy identity, a person may be characterized by: low self-esteem, a critical and negative view of herself; be unable to make independent decisions; have difficulty forming meaningful relationships with others; hold rigid and inflexible opinions; and often seek approval from others to feel valued.

Who are you?

There are stressors that can help or hold back your development of a healthy identity. Use these tips to help you on your journey to define yourself and to develop a healthy identity:

·Learn to separate your self worth from statistics.

·Watch your self talk- if you often put yourself down for your mistakes, you are likely to have a poor self-esteem and will struggle to achieve healthy identity.

Goals and Dreams

Turn your dreams into reality:set goals, commit to a plan of action and follow it through.

·Goals should relate to the process and refer to things you have control over. e.g. I will improve my footwork and movement around the court to help me reach difficult balls.

·Goals that relate to the outcome are not entirely in your control. e.g. I will win this match; you cannot control how the other player performs and she may beat you on the day.

To achieve a healthy identity, focus on what you can control (your own actions)

and always strive to do your best.

Money

·Your worth as an individual does not equate to what you earn.

·Some of the wealthiest people financially are truly the poorest for they may have no values or goals they believe in.

Your Support Team

·It helps you when your team is 100% behind you supporting YOUR dreams and goals.

·Do they always act with your best interests in mind? Are they committed to helping you be independent and to learn and make adult decisions about your life path? If you answered, "yes" then your team will be helping you achieve your unique and healthy identity.

Perspective

·It is important to understand how all these factors affect your identity.