Hey YOU! The art of Self-knowledge is powerful and such a massive topic. In essence, we shall do more of the things that make us happy, and with my calculations that adds up to a positive number, leading us into a BRIGHT and HAPPY experience most of the time.
In Ancient Greece, the philosopher Socrates famously declared that the unexamined life was not worth living. Asked to sum up what all philosophical commandments could be reduced to, he replied: ‘Know yourself.’
Knowing yourself has been framed as quite literally the meaning of life. Now that sounds epic, doesn't it. Let's take a closer look, why this is relevant for our HAPPINESS.
When we speak about self-knowledge, we are generally speaking about the emotional or psychological kind. There are a million things you could know about yourself. Here are some options:
On what day of the week were you born?
Were you able to pick up a raisin between your fore-finger and thumb when you were five months old?
Are you more an introvert or an extrovert?
How does your relationship with your father influence your career ambitions?
What kind of sport person are you: morning or evening? On land, in the gym or on water?
Most of us would recognise that questions 3 and 4 are ones worth knowing; the others, not so much.
In other words, not everything that we can know about ourselves is all that important to find out. Let's focus on the areas of self-knowledge that matter most in life: the areas concerned with the inner psychological core of the self.
Here are a few things that I have found useful to understand about me:
how I feel about my parents and childhood.
the reasons why I get frustrated by the things I do.
what I use to make decisions.
the way I distinguish between emotions and thoughts
how specifically I am difficult to be in relationship with, and how I am easy..
the characteristic way I respond to stress.
how I handle criticism and feedback.
what does success/failure mean.
the kind of work I am best suited to.
what qualities in others I am characteristically attracted to.
the stuff that gets me the most excited.
what I find a meaningful use of the time.
Source: Razzan, The Art of Well-being
When you have solid answers to those questions you'll be able to speak with someone with an adequate amount of self-knowledge.
Self-knowledge is important:
It offers us a path to greater HAPPINESS and FULLFILMENT.
The School of Life has poised the Question: Who am I? What is it that makes us most distinctively ourselves? Our bodies, our memories, our values...?
Watch this short 8min video....HINT: It is about personal identity ....our character!
This leaves me with philosophical questions:
Who do you choose to be during the time spend on this planet in this life-time?
Who do you want to be?
What do you want to become?
What do you want to experience?
What do you want to contribute to the world
as being YOU!
Want to find out more about yourself? I am a call away and here to lend you an ear and function as a soundboard, if you wish? coaching is super-valuable and can be the best short-cut to self-knowledge, self-discovery, awareness of self, understanding why you tick the way you do. Remember: Happiness is Homemade
If you like what you read, please forward this blog post to people dear to you. I'll love you for it even more. My goal is to spread Happiness far and wide, your assistance is part of it, and remind people that Happiness can be learned.
Contact: julia@mindyou.today