If you were asked, “Who are you?”, would you answer that question fluently and thoroughly for fifteen full minutes?
Who has made the most impact on your life? Is it your Dad, Mom, Spouse, Mentor, College Teacher, Best friend…? Why do you think it is so easy for you to describe them to other people with specificity and attention to details? The answer is that you know them, and that is because you watch them.
To know yourself entails a deep hunger for self-awareness. You do not get to know yourself simply by reason of birth and aging. It is a conscious effort. This is most times a horror story because it demands patience. How can you plan for who you could become if you are indeed ignorant of who you are?
Learning about yourself is to watch yourself like a stranger. You watch what you say to others. You watch how you think of others. Then you analyze, what sort of an individual would interact or react like that.
Learn about your personality. What sets your soul on fire? What scares you deeply? What experiences have you had that have scarred you? What are your dark fantasies? What is the worst thing you have done and how did you get to the mental space of doing it? Don’t slay your demons without finding out what they have been feeding on.
What motivates you? What are your values as an individual (stripped of social influence and perceptions)? What do you believe to be success? What do you berate yourself for not achieving? What do you identify as your limitations?
These answers do not come all at once. However, when they do, are unbelievably useful. In the safety of that knowledge, comparing your growth over time becomes possible.
Watch yourself. Learn who you are!
