Hey ,

From an early age, we start forming ideas about who we want to be.

I don't know about you, but when I was young, I wanted to be an engineer because I loved understanding how many things fit together.

I also wanted to become an architect, inspired by beautiful interior designs and the creativity of bringing new spaces to life.

And there was always a dream of being a musician, thinking and expressing myself in melodies.

Today, I'm none of those things.

Not even close.

My path took unexpected twists and turns, like many people's journeys.

In contrast, my wife's experience was different.

As a child, she wished to be a journalist.

She made that aspiration real, working as a reporter for a national newspaper.

Now, she's a communications manager for family organizations.

This contrast in experiences highlights a concept known as multipotentiality — the ability to excel in multiple fields.

I am a multipotentialite, my wife is not.

Interestingly, my daughter exemplifies this trait.

She wants to be a doctor, a chef, a police officer, "and a designer like daddy."

Her diverse interests indicate a future rich with possibilities and the potential for numerous career paths.

These divergent life paths constantly make me ask some questions:

• Are we truly the same people we were years ago if our dreams, beliefs, and circumstances radically shifted along the way?

• How much of our identity is shaped by external factors versus our own evolving understanding of who we are over time?

Philosophers have long grappled with the paradox of identity and self.

John Locke believed memories are the key - our ability to recollect experiences from the past proves we're the same person as the one who lived through them.

But what if memories could be downloaded and uploaded between bodies?

I know that sounds like science fiction, but can we pause to ask: Is there really an enduring self?

Or just a transitional series of mental states that we get into and get out when we're done?

Beliefs Shape Identity

Our worldview and belief systems construct who we are, especially when it comes to religion and spirituality.

With lots of of faiths across cultures, each one shapes our identity through distinct:

• Rituals
• Mythologies
• Ethical codes

Even trivial superstitions ingrained in us from our pasts create unconscious patterns in the brain.

Let me not mention the superstitions movies planted in our minds while growing up.

For instance, how can we ever know if someone else experiences the world the same way, seeing red the same way we do?

We're trapped in our own perspectives.

The Ongoing Journey

Our identity is an ever-evolving mix of experiences, beliefs, relationships, cultural contexts, and choices we make over our lifetimes.

Static notions of being one type of person can be limiting.

Holding too rigidly to who you think you are can restrict your growth and self-actualization.

The full mystery of our true selves endures, shaped - and shaping - the pathless paths we walk.

Take Leke Alder of Alder Consulting, a polymath who combines strategy, branding, and law into a premier consulting firm.

His work has transformed branding practices in Nigeria.

As a lawyer, he shared ideas.

As a designer, he worked on the Guaranty Trust Bank and First Bank of Nigeria brands.

As a strategist, he helped a Nigerian president get elected.

Nicolas Cole combined writing with online marketing and gaming. He popularized the digital writing category.

Keren Etkin, who wrote 'The AgeTech Revolution,' used her knowledge of aging to look at how technology helps older people.

She created the 'AgeTech' category.

So what's my point?

Explore Your Curiosity

Allow yourself to pursue various passions and interests without feeling confined to one field - yet.

If your path appears to be defined, like my wife's, embrace it.

And if it's the dance of multiple interests, accept it too.

Embracing that journey of constant redefinition may be the closest we can come to knowing who we really are.

This is part of my unending exploration of my identity and the self - what I call "The Government of Self".

Let me know if you'd want to explore this more by selecting a number below.

1. I love it because...😍
2. I don't like it because...🙈
3. It does not make any sense at all. 😡

Reply with the number that resonates most with you right now.

Live courageously,

Dayo Samuel 💯