Be curious about yourself like you’d be about a new friend. Ask questions. Don’t decide too fast.

Conclusions you reached about yourself at thirteen are still doing a lot of work, and most were never checked. With a new friend you ask questions, hold off judging and let them surprise you, and almost nobody extends that to themselves. Early verdicts are sticky: not sporty, not academic, not the kind of person who speaks up. Treating yourself as unfinished leaves room for whatever is actually true now.

Take one label you accepted years ago and test it rather than argue with it. Ask out loud whether it is still true or whether you just stopped checking. Then try the thing once and see.