Discover Your Identity What is Identity? Mind, Body & Soul Health ...
Mind, Body & Soul Health January 2004
Have you ever lost 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? Are you committed to do your best and to reach your goals on the WTA Tour? 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.
Photo: Getty Images
You are a unique person with special talents and precious gifts. Your personal characteristics interact with your environment to shape your individual IDENTITY.
What is Identity?
Photo: Private collection with permission
Let’s consider a WTA Tour player, Farrah Forehand. Farrah has a unique identity that has formed over time. Farrah’s teenage and early womanhood years (12 to 24 years old) are when most of her identity development occurs. Her identity is how she sees herself, and how she makes sense of herself and of her environment. It includes the values, beliefs and ideals she considers important and all the unique situations she experiences. Farrah’s identity will be reshaped throughout her life as she encounters new and different roles, ideas, influences and experiences. Her self-concept is her own idea of her self, balanced with what My identity is how I see she believes to be others’ ideas or opinions of her. myself and how & where Her self-image is how she would describe herself to others. I fit into my world.
Her self-esteem is how much she values herself as a unique and worthwhile individual. Her identity is a blend of these three views of her “self”. It includes characteristics that are: Fixed /Permanent e.g. race and ethnic background, sex, intelligence, and family structure. Flexible /Changeable e.g. where she lives, what role religion has in her life, how she expresses her sexuality, what she studies at school and what career she has chosen.
Discover Your Identity Forming your identity is a process that requires two key things to happen: Experiment: You will actively “try out” different behaviors, beliefs and lifestyles. Experimentation helps you decide what fits you best. Commitment: This is the degree 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.
There are unique stressors in the tennis environment that can help or hold back your development of a healthy identity. Here are some tips to help you on your journey to find out who you are: Winning & Losing: Part of your identity is that you are a professional tennis player. This is what you DO, it is not who you ARE! To develop healthy identity: Learn to separate your self worth from your match 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. Read the April 2002 Physically Speaking topic, “Feel Good, Play Great” or speak to one of the Sport Sciences & Medicine /Professional Development (SS&M/PD) staffs for tips to help you learn how to separate you, the individual, from your results.
Former top 10 player and Mentor, Gabriela Sabatini. A great example of positive and healthy identity. Photo: Getty Images
Want to learn more? Check out the Athlete Assistance website: www.achievesolutions.net/wta Go to “Work and Personal Growth” Center and click on “Self-esteem”
Goals and Dreams: To turn your dreams into reality, you need to set goals and
Maybe your goal is to help the cause of animal welfare like Former #1 player, Steffi Graf. Photo: Getty Images
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. Read the January 2003 Physically Speaking topic, “Set Goals for Success” or speak to one of the SS&M/PD staffs for tips about setting goals. To achieve a healthy identity, focus on what you can control (your own actions), and always strive to do your best.
Media: The media is enormously influential in everyone’s lives, especially for professional players who may be the focus of much media attention. It is important to remember that: Many images are changed to make them fit the prevailing “ideal” of female beauty. Written and televised interviews are usually edited, so the content you see may not be an accurate reflection of what was said. Question what you see and hear; whether the media version is complimentary or not. It will help you to: Separate the facts from the fantasies. Decide what aspects fit with your values and beliefs. Develop the balance you need for a healthy identity. Money: Your worth as an individual does not equate to what you earn from your career. Some of the wealthiest people in the financial sense 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. You have the power to choose how you will respond and what areas you will decide are valuable to you. Above all, do not take the game of tennis too seriously. Tennis is one very important part of your life, but it is NOT your life. Seeing the funny side of a situation helps you develop into a healthy individual, in charge of her own destiny. QUESTIONS? Need more information? Contact a member of the WTA Tour Sport Sciences and Medicine/Professional Development Departments and check the Athlete Assistance website http://www.achievesolutions.net/wta/
Copyright 2004 by WTA Tour, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Athlete Assistance b n helps you regain b baaalllaaan nccceee
Have you ever lost 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? Are you committed to do your best and to reach your goals on the WTA Tour? 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.
Photo: Getty Images
You are a unique person with special talents and precious gifts. Your personal characteristics interact with your environment to shape your individual IDENTITY.
What is Identity?
Photo: Private collection with permission
Let’s consider a WTA Tour player, Farrah Forehand. Farrah has a unique identity that has formed over time. Farrah’s teenage and early womanhood years (12 to 24 years old) are when most of her identity development occurs. Her identity is how she sees herself, and how she makes sense of herself and of her environment. It includes the values, beliefs and ideals she considers important and all the unique situations she experiences. Farrah’s identity will be reshaped throughout her life as she encounters new and different roles, ideas, influences and experiences. Her self-concept is her own idea of her self, balanced with what My identity is how I see she believes to be others’ ideas or opinions of her. myself and how & where Her self-image is how she would describe herself to others. I fit into my world.
Her self-esteem is how much she values herself as a unique and worthwhile individual. Her identity is a blend of these three views of her “self”. It includes characteristics that are: Fixed /Permanent e.g. race and ethnic background, sex, intelligence, and family structure. Flexible /Changeable e.g. where she lives, what role religion has in her life, how she expresses her sexuality, what she studies at school and what career she has chosen.
Discover Your Identity Forming your identity is a process that requires two key things to happen: Experiment: You will actively “try out” different behaviors, beliefs and lifestyles. Experimentation helps you decide what fits you best. Commitment: This is the degree 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.
There are unique stressors in the tennis environment that can help or hold back your development of a healthy identity. Here are some tips to help you on your journey to find out who you are: Winning & Losing: Part of your identity is that you are a professional tennis player. This is what you DO, it is not who you ARE! To develop healthy identity: Learn to separate your self worth from your match 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. Read the April 2002 Physically Speaking topic, “Feel Good, Play Great” or speak to one of the Sport Sciences & Medicine /Professional Development (SS&M/PD) staffs for tips to help you learn how to separate you, the individual, from your results.
Former top 10 player and Mentor, Gabriela Sabatini. A great example of positive and healthy identity. Photo: Getty Images
Want to learn more? Check out the Athlete Assistance website: www.achievesolutions.net/wta Go to “Work and Personal Growth” Center and click on “Self-esteem”
Goals and Dreams: To turn your dreams into reality, you need to set goals and
Maybe your goal is to help the cause of animal welfare like Former #1 player, Steffi Graf. Photo: Getty Images
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. Read the January 2003 Physically Speaking topic, “Set Goals for Success” or speak to one of the SS&M/PD staffs for tips about setting goals. To achieve a healthy identity, focus on what you can control (your own actions), and always strive to do your best.
Media: The media is enormously influential in everyone’s lives, especially for professional players who may be the focus of much media attention. It is important to remember that: Many images are changed to make them fit the prevailing “ideal” of female beauty. Written and televised interviews are usually edited, so the content you see may not be an accurate reflection of what was said. Question what you see and hear; whether the media version is complimentary or not. It will help you to: Separate the facts from the fantasies. Decide what aspects fit with your values and beliefs. Develop the balance you need for a healthy identity. Money: Your worth as an individual does not equate to what you earn from your career. Some of the wealthiest people in the financial sense 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. You have the power to choose how you will respond and what areas you will decide are valuable to you. Above all, do not take the game of tennis too seriously. Tennis is one very important part of your life, but it is NOT your life. Seeing the funny side of a situation helps you develop into a healthy individual, in charge of her own destiny. QUESTIONS? Need more information? Contact a member of the WTA Tour Sport Sciences and Medicine/Professional Development Departments and check the Athlete Assistance website http://www.achievesolutions.net/wta/
Copyright 2004 by WTA Tour, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Athlete Assistance b n helps you regain b baaalllaaan nccceee
