You’ve known yourself all your life so why do people ask what it means to get to know yourself? Surely that’s a weird (and maybe daft) question to ask.
But actually it makes quite a bit of sense. We tend to accept the familiar and, since we’re familiar with ourselves, it stands to reason that we take a lot of things about ourselves for granted.
So the process of introspection – so long as you don’t do it all the time – can be quite revealing.
Understand your strengths and weaknesses
Your strengths and weaknesses are probably the biggest part of getting to know your true self.
Most of us tend to over-emphasise our strengths – think of the times you’ve confidently said “I can do that” and then had to ask for help when it became patently obvious you couldn’t. But don’t dwell on that thought, just use it as a reminder that you’re not always a super hero.
There are also times when we play ourselves down and say we can’t do something, even though we almost certainly could.
Strengths and weaknesses mess around with our minds. So taking a step back and going through your own mental list every now and then is a good exercise.
It doesn’t just have to be physical things. It can be likes and dislikes (for instance, I’m not a fan of reggae music) and these can change over time. Your musical taste has probably evolved since childhood and your taste in food has almost certainly done the same. So you might decide to test your perceived limits occasionally but you’ll probably only remember they’re there if you ask yourself to think about them. Hopefully that makes sense!
Check your habits
Habits have a habit of becoming an essential part of us.
Dogs have a habit of turning in a circle before lying down – that’s part of their built-in survival mechanism – and most of us have habits that probably aren’t quite as obvious as that but are likely just as redundant in modern society.
Go through your habits – a trusted friend will definitely be able to list them out even if you can’t quite put your finger on them – and work out which ones you could drop without any problem.
And the rest of your habits, examine whether they’re beneficial or just something you “do” like having that first shot of caffeine of the day or whatever else just happens on autopilot.
Figure out your purpose in life
This is maybe the biggest part of knowing yourself.
We all have a purpose in life but not all of us have discovered it.
If you think you’re just drifting through life or if things haven’t changed in what seems like forever, there’s a good chance you haven’t discovered your purpose.
You might need to delve into your core values to come up with an answer to this. That’s quite normal. And it may take a bit of digging to find it, especially if you’ve been living your life without a conscious purpose for longer than you care to admit.
Your core values are the ones you live your life by – consciously or not, you’ve got them. Some people’s values wave around a bit, others have ones that seem to be set in stone. And those things could vary according to the values we’re talking about – that’s fine and perfectly normal.
If your core values don’t immediately spring to mind, take a bit of time to brainstorm with yourself or with a friend to figure them out. Doing that will help you understand yourself a lot more.
Discover the truth about yourself
This might sound a bit scary.
What if we discover something we’d prefer not to discover?
Well, that could happen. But only if whatever it is that you’re worried about being part of you is already a part of you.
And it’s better to address it than let it fester and grow.
Again, brainstorming with yourself and/or a trusted friend is a quick way to find out the truth about yourself.
Ask yourself “awkward” questions if you need to – the ones you’ve been avoiding answering for a long time. That’s why people have a habit of revealing something about themselves relatively late in life – they’ve been squashing that part of their identity and refusing to admit it exists.
Which isn’t a good place to be as it can brood inside your mind and cause all sorts of problems for you, physically and mentally.
One way I like to deal with things like understanding myself that aren’t really part of our conscious mind is using hypnosis. It gets “under the hood” and works with all the different parts of your mind to find a solution with next to no effort on your part.
Your strengths and weaknesses are probably the biggest part of getting to know your true self.
