Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories. – Sun Tzu
Do you know yourself? You must know a little about yourself, surely, but do you know who you are, deep down? Do you know what you are capable of or what you can accomplish? There is always more to discovery.
There is no limit to self-exploration. Every person is unique and profound, after all, it might be said that each individual has a universe inside their minds. There is always something else to find out.
What are the benefits of self-knowledge and self-discovery? There are many to consider. You get to explore who you are and discover unexpected sides of your identity. You get to develop and cultivate a solid relationship with yourself.
You can also make better choices because you have a better understanding of your wants and needs, strengths and weaknesses. You can stay confident in your values and keep moving forward.
It’s clear that knowing yourself is important. So, how can you do it? What does it look like in practice?
Knowing yourself means, first and foremost, paying attention to yourself. What do you think about in certain situations? What do you feel when X or Y happens? How do you respond to different things?
Often, we are used to ignoring the signals our body sends us and need to take time to reconnect with these.
Another way of getting to know yourself is by doing artistic activities that allow self-expression. Draw, paint, journal, write, dance, sing. Any activity can help you discover new things about who you are.
You can also try new things and new situations. Give yourself permission to remember how you used to be as a child and how new things used to excite you. Recapture that emotion and try new things, put yourself in new situations.
Pay attention to who you are. Ask yourself what you want, what you need, what you must have and what you do. The process of getting to know yourself never ends, as there are always new horizons to discover.
Always take the time to get to know who you are. It’s the best time investment you can make. There are no relationships that are guaranteed to last you a lifetime, except for the one you build with yourself. So, take the time to really get to know who you are spending your life with.
