How do we get to be who we are? Are we born that way, or do our experiences mold us into the people we eventually become? It's an old question, and the answer probably lies somewhere in between. Nevertheless, it's clear that our memories do play a critical role in establishing who we are and how we set about living our lives.

This book discusses our memories and how they work to define our personalities. Research suggests that certain powerful recollections called self-defining memories (SDMs) have a profound impact on larger issues pertaining to our identity and mental health. This book offers an approach you can use to tap into SDMs and analyze these memories for their specificity, meaning, content, and affect. Once understood, these SDMs reveal clues you can use to maximize the helping aspects and minimize the hurting aspects of these memories.

You'll first learn how to identify SDMs and how to discover the life lessons they contain. By paying attention to SDMs, you can avoid repeating harmful patterns in your life. You'll find out how memories affect moods and how to use SDMs to control moods, enhance sensuality, and manage stress. Ultimately, the book guides you to explore deeper issues of life's meaning through SDMs, offering you a memory-based legacy you can share with important people in your life.