Finding identity: Frank Joung explains the way
Finding identity with Frank Joung: why understanding who you are is one of life’s most fundamental questions.
How we find our identity
Finding one’s own identity is one of the most profound challenges we face in life. In this Mindset Moment episode of Project Mindset, Reza Mehman speaks with journalist and podcaster Frank Joung about how people embark on a journey of self-discovery. It becomes clear that many questions surrounding life goals, focus, and personal values ultimately lead back to a fundamental question: Who am I, really? Frank Joung draws on his own podcast, “Halbe Katoffl,” in which he interviews people from multicultural backgrounds on precisely these topics. The episode demonstrates why it’s worthwhile to overcome inner barriers and confront life’s uncomfortable questions. Those who grapple with their own identity lay the foundation for a self-determined and fulfilling life.
Finding identity: the episode in brief
In one sentence: Frank Joung explains that the search for one’s own identity means recognizing inner barriers and bravely facing the questions one has previously run away from.
In three sentences: In this Mindset Moment, Reza Mehman speaks with Frank Joung about how people find their own identity. Frank Joung describes how finding one’s identity is often a search for clues, requiring one to confront inner taboos, family roots, and cultural influences. He emphasizes that this process often only begins later in life and becomes unavoidable at the latest with the birth of one’s own children.
In five sentences: In this Mindset Moment episode, Reza Mehman explores the theme of identity and plays an excerpt from his earlier conversation with Frank Joung. Frank Joung, known for his podcast “Halbe Katoffl,” explains that the search for identity means opening inner doors behind which lie uncomfortable truths. He describes how his guests explore their identities in different ways, whether through traveling to their parents’ countries of origin, talking with family, or through conscious self-reflection. Reza complements this with personal stories about enjoying the moment and observing human behavior at events.The episode makes it clear that most of life’s questions ultimately lead back to the fundamental question: Who am I, and what is truly important to me?
Context: Who, What, Why
Who is speaking: Reza Mehman, host of Project Mindset, presents an excerpt from his earlier conversation (Episode 56) with Frank Joung, journalist, author and founder of the podcast “Halbe Katoffl”, in which he interviews people with bicultural roots.
What is it about: At its core, this episode revolves around the question of how people find their own identity. Frank Joung shares insights from hundreds of conversations with guests on his podcast and describes various paths to identity formation. Reza frames the topic with his own observations and points out that most listener questions ultimately boil down to questions of identity.
Why is this relevant? In a world increasingly characterized by diversity, mobility, and cultural mixing, more and more people are confronted with questions of identity. This issue affects not only people with a migration background, but anyone who wonders who they are and what is truly important to them.
Three key questions of the episode:
- How do I find out who I really am?
- What internal barriers prevent me from confronting my identity?
- When and why do most people begin to grapple with their identity?
Table of contents
- Introduction – Why the search for identity affects everyone
- Summary – The episode in brief
- context – Background information on speaker,topic and relevance
- Topics and classification – Overview of the main topics
- Key messages – The most important insights from the episode
- Frequently Asked Questions – Answers to key questions about identity formation
- Highlight quotes – The most concise statements verbatim
- Transcript – Full transcript of the episode
- Keywords – Relevant search terms
- Names and terms – Important people and keywords
- Quotable passage – For sharing and quoting
Topics and classification
1. Identity formation and self-reflection
Frank Joung describes how people discover their identity in different ways, from conversations with their parents to trips to their countries of origin. The search for self often begins with recognizing inner barriers.
Keywords: Finding identity, self-reflection, tracing one’s roots
2. Overcoming internal barriers and taboos
A central theme is dealing with inner doors that we prefer to keep closed. Frank Joung explains why it is important to recognize these boundaries and gradually venture closer to them.
Keywords: internal barriers, leaving one’s comfort zone, personal growth
3. Life phases and the right time
The exploration of identity is also a matter of age. During puberty and one’s twenties, other issues take center stage, while the question of identity often becomes unavoidable later, at the latest with one’s own children.
Keywords: Life stages, personality development, self-discovery in old age
4. Live in and appreciate the moment
Reza shares the story of an expensive bottle of wine and the realization that there is no better moment than now. A reminder not to postpone life.
Keywords: mindfulness, living in the moment, carpe diem
5. Fundamental questions about life
Reza observes that most listener questions about goals, focus, and priorities ultimately boil down to the core question: Who am I, really? Identity as the foundation for all further life decisions.
Keywords: Life goals, meaning of life,finding values
Key messages
- Most questions about life goals and focus can be traced back to the fundamental question “Who am I?”.
- Finding one’s identity means searching for traces: talking to parents, traveling to countries of origin, or consciously confronting one’s own history.
- Every person carries inner barriers and taboos, behind which lie important insights about their own identity.
- The way inwards is the only way outwards: “In is the only way out.”
- Confronting one’s own identity is often a matter of age and stage of life.
- The question of identity becomes unavoidable at the latest when you have your own children: Which language, culture and values do I pass on?
- There is no better moment than now to enjoy life and ask yourself important questions.
- Courage to be vulnerable and open are crucial for the search for identity.
- One should not let the fear of the unknown deter one, but rather approach it slowly and confidently.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find my own identity?
According to Frank Joung, the search for identity begins with a search for clues. This can mean talking to one’s parents, traveling to one’s countries of origin, or consciously engaging with topics that have previously been avoided. The key lies in recognizing inner barriers and gradually confronting them.
Why do many people find it difficult to come to terms with their identity?
Frank Joung explains that every person has inner doors behind which lie uncomfortable truths. Similar to the topic of death, we shy away from exploring certain areas of our lives because confronting them can be emotionally demanding. It takes courage to open these doors.
At what age does the search for identity typically begin?
According to Frank Joung, the conscious exploration of one’s own identity usually begins only after the twenties. During puberty and early adulthood, other priorities such as popularity, career choice, and professional development take center stage. However, the question of identity and cultural roots becomes unavoidable at the latest with the birth of one’s own children.
What does “In is the only way out” mean in the context of identity formation?
This expression comes from yoga and means that the path inward, that is, self-reflection and honest self-examination, is the only way to gain clarity about one’s own identity and life path. Only those who turn inward find answers for outer life.
What is a Mindset Moment in Project Mindset?
Mindset Moment episodes are shorter episodes in which Reza Mehman presents his favorite excerpts from previous Project Mindset episodes. They offer concise insights and food for thought on important life topics, without requiring you to have listened to the complete original episode.
Who is Frank Joung?
Frank Joung is a journalist, author, and founder of the podcast “Halbe Katoffl,” in which he interviews people with multicultural backgrounds. His conversations revolve around identity, belonging, and how cultural influences shape one’s life.
What role do one’s own children play in the formation of identity?
Frank Joung describes how the birth of one’s own children often triggers an intense examination of one’s own identity. Parents ask themselves questions such as: Should my children learn the language of my heritage? What cultural values do I want to pass on? These questions inevitably lead to a reflection on one’s own roots.
Highlight quotes
“In is the only way out. You always have to look inside yourself somehow.”
– Frank Joung
“Somewhere inside you you feel there’s a barrier, a boundary, some kind of door that you don’t want to open, where you say, ‘I’d rather not go there.'”
– Frank Joung
“Where is my taboo? And then look at why it’s there. And then I can slowly dare to approach it.”
– Frank Joung
“If opening the best bottle I have at home isn’t a great moment, what other moments are?”
– Reza Mehman
“Most of the questions I receive can be boiled down to these fundamental questions in life: I don’t actually know who I am.”
– Reza Mehman
“There is no special or better moment than now.”
– Reza Mehman
“Sometimes we open the door like this if something bad happens, we go in for a bit and think, oh, it’s dark in here, I’m fed up, let’s go out.”
– Frank Joung
The full conversation
Hi everyone and welcome to Project Mindset, the channel for all those who know that with the right mindset, anything is possible. In today’s podcast episode, I want to talk about identity again. I’m going to play you a short excerpt from a previous podcast episode with Frank Joung. It was a really interesting podcast. Among other things, we talked about who we really are and what our own identity actually means.
Today I want to deliberately play only a Mindset Moment episode. As you may have noticed, a Mindset Moment means I play my favorite excerpts from previous podcasts. I’ll also be doing a separate episode on the topic of identity in the near future, which won’t be a Mindset Moment, but simply my opinion on the subject. But today, as I said, just a small excerpt. Before we get to the excerpt, I have two interesting stories to tell that happened to me recently.
Or rather, one of them is from a while ago, and the other is something I experienced recently. First, the first story, which is a bit more positive. I recently had a really good friend over, and we wanted to open a bottle of wine. That was over the weekend. We had a really nice time together. My friend noticed that it was a relatively expensive bottle of wine. From a local winemaker who’s somewhat known for being a bit pricey.
Enjoy this special moment now
The quality of the mineral water, etc., is good and it tastes pretty good too. My buddy said to me, “Hey, Reza, come on, open a cheap bottle. Just save the expensive one for a special moment.” I simply said, “Hey, honestly, I’m here with one of my best friends. We’re having a great time together. And if this isn’t a great moment, opening the best bottle I have at home, what other moments could there be? Or should I open the bottle for some stranger?”
My buddy laughed a little and said, “You’re absolutely right.” He kind of felt like he wasn’t worth it. Sounds exaggerated, but that was his opinion. I said, “No, honestly, if this very moment isn’t the most precious moment we have, then I don’t know what is.” So, what I want to convey with this first short story is, just enjoy the moment as it comes. I wouldn’t constantly put things off, like a special wine or a nice meal out. Not until tomorrow, not until the day after, and so on.
Observations at events
If you can do it now, then do it now. There’s no better or more special moment than now. That was the first story. The second story is about something I’ve already mentioned here and there. On April 23, 2024, so in just under two months, I have an event in Heidelberg called “Dinner at the Castle.” It’s about sustainability. And since I’m not, let’s say , an event organizer who learned all this from the ground up, but rather, for me, this event is more of an escalated hobby that I’m currently sharing at many events, also from the perspective that I want to learn a bit about how other organizers do it, what they pay attention to, what the presentations are like, and so on.
What happens, for example,when there’s a panel discussion on stage? Are questions allowed? How does one generally approach the topic of events in a Mainz-like way? I don’t want to plan everything down to the last detail, but I just want to gain some experience. What do others actually do? I can recommend that anyone trying something new should take a look at what others are doing. Anyway, I ended up going to several events.
I found one of them incredibly interesting.
A lecture and the audience reactions
So, I randomly picked it and went there; it was about electromobility. The speaker talked about how great he thought the whole thing was and how he’d converted his own car to electric. It was originally a gasoline-powered car, and he’d made it electric. He just explained how he did it. Not like, “Hey, this is the best thing ever,” or “Cars need to switch over,” or anything like that, but just how he did it.
Then a question came from the audience, asking what kind of doctorate the person had, because the speaker was a doctor, so he had a PhD. He replied, “I can’t quite remember, I think it was psychology or political science, something in the social sciences, I’d say, something along those lines.” And then the person asking said, “Ah, okay, so you’re not an engineer.” He said, “No, I’m not, so why do I have to be one to be able to talk about this?”
Continued
He was like, yeah, I just wanted to know, it sounded to me like they were just trying to advertise electric cars. They wanted to convert us all to using electric cars. Honestly, the guy up front talked a bit about what he does, and then this guy in the audience acted so critically, as if he was trying to convert us. I didn’t think much of it, that was pretty much it, and other normal questions came up too. I found it really rude, to be honest, that someone takes the time to stand there, prepare a presentation, and then someone comes along and asks such a strange question.
The funny thing is, this person—I saw them later, the person who asked the question—then went outside and rode off on an e-bike. I thought, what’s wrong with people? That was one thing. And at another event, and it’s a recurring pattern that I’ve actually seen quite often, is that when a panel discussion, for example, takes place, questions from the audience are usually allowed—hey, does anyone have a question?
Ask questions or introduce yourself?
And I’ve really noticed something, pay attention, is that the first question is usually from a guy, a man, who doesn’t actually ask a question at all, but just says, “I’m so-and-so, I own, for example, such-and-such a company, and I sell this and that, and my opinion on the topic is this and that.” Okay, and I’m thinking, okay,where’s the question? And then maybe a woman comes along later, and indeed, the women ask specific questions, but the men, and especially the ones who come right at the beginning, just reiterate their opinions, even though I have to say, nobody actually asked for them.
Pay attention to this in the future. I find it extremely funny that I’ve seen this several times in the last few months, maybe three or four times, where the first questions allowed were actually statements from people trying to make a name for themselves—and they were always men, I’ve noticed—while the women were actually the ones asking the actual questions. Anyway, that’s not what I want to talk about today. I’ll tell you a few stories from my life here and there.
The Mindset Moment with Frank Joung
I actually want to talk to you about the topic of identity soon. I’ve touched on it here and there in the podcast. Today, I’m just sharing a mindset moment from an earlier podcast with Frank Joung. It’s a really interesting episode, so definitely check it out if you want to know more about how I got into this topic. Lately, I’ve been getting quite a few questions about it. They come in via email, and I’m very grateful for them. I always make sure to check back with my emails.
Hey, write to me if you have any questions at hello@projectmindset.de. Ask me your questions. I enjoy discussing things with you. I have to admit that I’ve tried to respond promptly lately, but I’m still a bit behind here and there. So please don’t be surprised if you’ve asked me a question. You will definitely get an answer. I’ll address the topic of identity again specifically, because I’ve noticed that most of the questions I receive, while they do touch on things like, “Hey, what should I focus on in life?”
What is truly important to us in life
What truly matters to me is still unclear. My clear goal is still uncertain. And I’ve noticed, all the questions actually revolve around this topic. I don’t really know who I am. I don’t really know what’s important to me. My goal in life is still unclear. Most of the questions I receive can only be boiled down to these fundamental questions in life. And I’d like to address this in one of the next podcast episodes, sharing my thoughts on it.
But for now, just a short quote or excerpt from an earlier podcast episode by Frank Joung. Super interesting. I hope this answers some of your initial questions. But as I said, a separate episode from me will be coming soon. Great, I hope you enjoy this excerpt. And regarding the question of identity, how do your guests typically find their ideas? Good question. My wife, for example, always says it comes from yoga: in is the only way out.You always have to look inward somehow.
Searching for traces of one’s own identity
But it’s obviously connected to the fact that you’re somehow searching for clues, in whatever form that may take. Whether you talk to your parents. Some people then search for their father who wasn’t there, or their mother who wasn’t there. Or some simply start dealing with the topic now, at some point, because they hadn’t done so before, simply because they had other things to do. Some travel back to those countries. So somewhere inside you sense that there’s a barrier, a boundary, some kind of door you don’t want to open, where you say, I’d rather not go.
Continued
It’s like sometimes with death. We all know we’re going to die someday. But we don’t think about it every second, every minute, about everything that could happen, because it would drive us crazy. That’s why sometimes, when something bad happens, we open the door, go in there for a bit, and think, “Oh, it’s dark in here, I don’t feel like going out.” And with these things, everyone has a kind of door where they say, “I don’t know, can I go there or not?” So sometimes it’s really like, “I travel to my father’s country” or something.
Look for that connection. You then have all these emotions, or think you have them, and then you’re there, and then you’re completely different in some ways. Or sometimes it’s overwhelming, and it’s like, wow. But I think it’s an important step to always try to see, so to speak, where is my taboo? Then look at why it’s there. From there, I can slowly begin to approach it. But it’s also funnily enough a question of age. Most people tend to deal with it later. I don’t know, puberty, you’re busy with other things then.
Identity in different phases of life
You want to be popular, you want to play your sport, you want to go to school, play music, something like that. In your 20s, you’re busy figuring out a career and all that. And later on, that comes into play. And unfortunately, you can’t really escape it, especially if you have children. Then you start thinking, should they learn the language? Should they take anything away with them? Should I sing them songs? How do I deal with this with my children?
So at some point, you can’t run away from it anymore. Like I said, I’m 45 now, and I have the feeling that around 35, most people, whether they’re half-baked or not, start dealing with their issues. Like it or not. For some, it goes in a direction where they develop physical symptoms or they have real problems in other areas. But at some point, you can’t run away from your own personal issues anymore.
This transcript was automatically generated using Whisper AI and may contain occasional errors.
Keywords
Tags: Finding identity, self-discovery, Frank Joung, Halbe Katoffl, Project Mindset, Mindset Moment, personality development, who am I, inner barriers, self-reflection, identity formation, life goals, cultural identity, Podcast Identity, Reza Mehman
Names and terms
Reza Mehman, Frank Joung, Project Mindset, Halbe Katoffl, Mindset Moment, Heidelberg, Dinner at the Castle, Electromobility, Yoga, Identity, Self-Reflection, Tracing One’s Roots, Inner Barriers, Taboo, Life Phases, Puberty, Career Choice, Cultural Roots, Countries of Origin, Personality Development
Quotable passage
According to Frank Joung, the search for one’s own identity begins where we feel an inner barrier, a door we would rather keep closed.
The key lies in recognizing these taboos and confronting them slowly and bravely.
Finding one’s identity is often a question of timing: at the latest when one’s own children come along, confronting one’s own roots becomes unavoidable.
As Reza Mehman observes, most of life’s questions ultimately lead back to the fundamental question: Who am I, really?
You can find more discussions about personal development at Project Mindset.
Prefer listening? Explore the original Project Mindset podcast recordings.
