My Puzzle Book Asked Me One Question

Who the f*ck am I?

That was the question that suddenly popped into my head while I was sitting with my puzzle book. Not what do I do?, not what’s my job?, not what role am I playing? — but who am I underneath all of that?

It got me thinking about identity, behaviour, the different versions of ourselves we move through in life, and whether we sometimes mistake what we do for who we are.

My puzzle book has become a simple way for me to explore these questions, especially when I’m trying to find my way through change. I write down a question, let it sit, and sometimes the answer appears when I’m not even consciously looking for it.

And this one opened up a whole new conversation about identity, Superman, Spider-Man, the Hulk… and where all that took me.

This is the seed. The longer, deeper dive takes the conversation much further.

What if you stopped asking “What do I do?” and started asking “Who the f*ck am I?”

or as the deeper dive goes in search of, “You’re Not Who You Think You Are”

Come and explore it with me and share what you learn; pay it forward https://personaldevelopmentunplugged.com/fmq-539-my-puzzle-book-asked-me-one-question

Shine Brightly 🌟

Paul

Hey there! I’d love to hear from you—questions, feedback, requests—all welcome. Drop me a line or leave a comment. If you’ve enjoyed this episode or any other, please share and subscribe! You can reach me at feedback@personaldevelopmentunplugged.com.

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Music Credits

Music by Wataboi from Pixabay,
Music by DreamHeaven from Pixabay,
Music by ccjmusic from Pixabay,
Music by freegroove from Pixabay,
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Music by prazkhanal from Pixabay.
Music by will |Marshall from will marshall.

And the transcript WARNING if you’re a lover of the written word this may make you frustrated, or angry – you have been warned – is it an ‘ism

So, an interesting title to this 5 minute quickie Who the fuck am I? Or, you could say Conversations with my puzzle book Yeah, either will do Maybe the second one’s… No, it’s just me But anyway, I wasn’t going to do this so quickly, but Last evening I was just sitting down with my puzzle book I’ll explain what that really is, but I was sitting down with my puzzle book Just Waiting for something to come along, because I was Trying to get some ideas and then Nothing would come along And then a really interesting question popped Right out of nowhere Have you ever had that, when Something just suddenly pops in Not an aha moment It’s just, ooh, where did that come from? And it was that question Who the fuck am I? And it wasn’t like, who am I to do this or expect that It was just a question that came into my head So I had a Little think, just sitting there quietly, because the question’s here This is my conversation So I started to think about Things like identities, which we’ve talked about Because you see Sometimes we link identities To what we do, our behaviours Our job And in that way Our identity would change, wouldn’t it? Because everything you do, when you do it differently You know, now I’m a parent Now I’m a father Now I’m a this at work And then I’m a this, you know No you’re not, they’re just things you’re doing They’re not your identity That’s the trouble, you see And we get into this realm of This is me And when you’ve got all those different identities going round I started to think, well, maybe this is what’s coming up Who the fuck am I? But it It didn’t seem to be that So I sat there a little bit longer This is like a A one-sided conversation, where nothing is happening I’m sitting there thinking, nothing is happening But then I started to think And recall Now if you’ve been here Listening to the longer episodes You’ll notice that They’ve changed slightly from the What was, if you go back to the very early episodes They were all process driven How to deal with this, how to do that And now, yes, this process is still within the episodes But they’re geared around the episode The content And the content’s changed now to To like a sharing A sharing for me, what I’m searching for My difficulties, how I’m getting over them And it’s not a diary It’s a sharing so we can Both start to consider things And if you think about it, even the last Whether it was the last one or the one before that I’m still finding my way Where I explain how Things are changing in my life And then I started to think, well, maybe that’s about my identity So maybe that’s where this question’s popping up Still finding my way Who the fuck am I? And then I started to To be able to write Write in that puzzle book Now what is a puzzle book? I’ll let you know now You see, for me a puzzle book is purely a book A book, it could be a piece of paper It could be a fag packet If one of those is, that’s a cigarette packet That’s an old English term I shouldn’t have said that, yeah, it did, anyway But it’s just a book that you can Put your thoughts down Puzzle books, you can puzzle about questions of your life Issues in your life, things that are happening And it’s like an anchor, it’s an anchor to me Because when I open that and I get my pencil Or pen and I just sit there Things like this come to mind Or I write a question down I want to Discover more about And sometimes I’ll do a little bit and leave it And sometimes it’s the leaving that is the thing Because it’s unanswered or not completed And that buggers up your old unconscious mind Because it likes to finish So it goes away and helps you finish the question So when you come back to your puzzle book You start to get answers And sometimes I deliberately leave it open like that To get an unconscious answer Not in case I’m getting too conscious about this thing And it’s a dance between conscious and unconscious So the puzzle book, I really suggest just get a book Because you can always go back to it and you flick through it So a piece of paper is okay But unless you’re going to put them together A lovely puzzle book And they’re so cheap because they’re just a plain book Any size you want So that’s a puzzle book I don’t have any selling rights on puzzle books No, that was just silly But a puzzle book is a great thing to have But the thing is, while I was sitting there Back to the story, Cloughie This conversation I started to have this conversation with myself About who the fuck am I But the thing is I started to think about something quite random I started to think about Do you know what? Superman Spiderman The Hulk What was all that about? Now, I did explore that a lot more And I think there’s a lot more to come So if you want to come with me And have a conversation about my conversation My talks, my conversation with the puzzle book About identity If that’s something that’s resonated with you now Who the fuck am I? Because it’s good to explore Even if you know who you are Sometimes just below the surface There’s an even richer source of learnings Where we really get to, let’s say, find our way And I’m still searching for mine And I’m going to share the hell out of it with you But if that’s something of real interest to you Please come with me on the longer, deeper dive Where we’ll do, I think, something really interesting And explore Explore about the bloody Superman, the Spiderman, the Hulk And where it took me I think you’ll find it really good And I’m sure I’m going to find a little process or two To put in there So we can really start to To find out who we are Where we feel solid in who we are Where we feel comfortable who we are You know, we’re happy with who we are That’s something you might want to think about Those questions Am I happy who I am? Do I know who I am? Now maybe it’s other people who are giving me my identity Is it my behaviours giving me my identity? And that’s not who I am So come with me on a lovely conversation On the next full, longer episode The deeper dive Press that subscribe button so you don’t miss it Say that every time, don’t know if you do But if you do, press the button And if this has sparked your interest I’m sure you have a friend who has a similar interest So share it with them too And then we can all find who the fuck we are That’s what came out in a conversation It’s the way I speak to myself in my head And it’s done in a joking way I’m not having a pop at me I’m trying to spur myself on I think And it just comes out that way So I hope that hasn’t offended you But I’m doing it in a very genuine, loving way If you can do that With a swear word You can, because I did Enjoy, have more fun than you can stand Enjoy every heartbeat as usual And I’ll be in your head, in your ears With that longer, deeper dive to follow Enjoy, go fly We all need time to de-stress, don’t we? We all need that space Everyone needs space Our own place of personal retreat And going to retreats are great But if you can’t, why not have one in your mind? You know, if you don’t go to that special place That stress just builds and builds and builds But if you have a place in your mind Where you can go and de-stress Work out problems Think of all the wonderful things That you’ll be able to do The wonderful feelings So that’s why I’ve created this program Of four hypnosis tracks To build and be and have Your own inner retreat You can have whatever you like in that inner retreat There can be rooms There can be libraries Healing rooms Different lighting Maybe a fire in the corner A special chair Maybe incense Anything that you choose Some people have a computer That stores all the memories you’ve ever had That library of everything you’ve ever read Or everything you ever need to know Maybe a healing room A room where you can just go to And have your own inner healing Or own inner relaxation So what have I done? I’ve created these four tracks One to build One to extend it Whenever you need to extend it And then to be able to go there For a particular period of time Or even a longer period of time So you’ve got two tracks of just going And being in that special place Where you can take a problem with you Maybe muse it over in that special place Or you can leave it there Leave it to incubate In your own conscious mind So when you come back You can just have the answers come Or they might just come consciously It’s all there for you All you have to do is go to poolclubonline.com forward slash retreat Have a look Give you a nice little video there Just see if it’s for you I think it’s a lovely little program There’s nothing to lose Because there’s a 30 day money back guarantee It’s a lovely program And I think it was one I wanted to do for myself Because I just thought It’s just a wonderful thing to do I love retreats But hey This is your own personal one Have a look Enjoy Warning You are now leaving The unplugged mind Of Paul Clough It’s time to fly on your own Be brave my friend Personal Development Unplugged

Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited