I, Me, Myself – these are words we often use when someone asks us to describe ourselves. When we go for a job interview or when the teacher asks us to give an introduction before the entire classroom, we use to shiver-our hands suddenly gets cold-everything seems like going round and round. How silly, right. Come on, it’s just a self-introduction. Still, we are stuck, after giving our name, we are thinking what to say next…… just like some umm…… This is a situation that most of us have experienced in some part of our life.
Self- awareness is a process where one gets to know about oneself. It is a great feeling where we can see ourselves, the way we think, feel and act. A person who is self-aware consciously knows and understands their own feelings, character, personality and desires. Such awareness will help oneself to remove incessant chattering thoughts from a mind so one can see them easily and clearly. It is actually one’s capacity for introspection and the ability to recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals.
Sometimes when we say these words, we may be considered as a selfish person who only thinks about oneself. It is important to differentiate these two concepts in life. We all have our beliefs and values in life and it is based on these values we are going to interpret the world around us. But if you have an opinion about yourself, if you are thinking about yourself it doesn’t mean you are selfish. Only when you understand yourself can you see things in other’s perspectives too.
Knowing oneself relates to many things. If you know yourself, you have to be able to see yourself objectively. The ‘you’ that knows yourself cannot be the same as the ‘self’ that you know. If you can’t do this, you are doomed to always just doing and feeling the stuff that you always did and felt. If you know yourself, then you know what makes you the same as, and different from the other people in this world. Then you may see the same as others rather than being different. But better than others or worse than others. It’s all based on our own perspective. When we see ourselves and recognize our right place, we can now find freedom. We make our own luck; we create our own suck. Our life is what we make of it, nothing more, nothing less. Success is heavily an inside job – even we have to make our own happiness.
The universe has a way of paying back. It’s not just about karma. It’s more like human nature. When you understand about yourself and do good things, you receive good things too. People will return good for good and evil for evil. Maybe in life, we may not feel like that, but ultimately you will receive the best if you do good.
You know, sometimes you find out that someone thinks way more highly of you than you thought they did or they think much worse of you. Either way, you will be in shock and doubt why it happened. Knowing yourself prevents these shocks, and you can also find why it happened to you. But that’s just like the tip of the iceberg. By knowing who you are and aren’t, you can maximize your potential. You exactly know your inner-self, so you don’t need to seek more or less from others than you should. When you know who you are, you can calibrate exactly what impact you will create in any given situation – no more guessing, wishing, hoping. That’s empowering.
Knowing your personality traits is essential for creating a life that is in alignment with your authentic self. Though everyone is unique, there are some common traits shared by groups of people. Being aware of them will help you design your ideal life and get what you want. If you are an introvert, you will design your life in a different way than an extrovert would. Nowadays, there are many types of personality tests that would help you to understand what type of personality you possess. Some of them include:
- DiSC Personality Test – Measures your personality and behavioural style
- Introvert/ Extrovert Test – To find out whether you are an introvert or an extrovert.
- MBTI Test – To find out which of the 16 personality types you belong to.
- VARK Test – To find out what kind of learner you are.
- Big Five Personality Test – The big five personalities include openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism
You have the powerful ability to create your own life. It is absolutely possible. As a matter of fact, your authentic or true self is with you right now. It waits for you. It may be covered up a bit, but with some digging and a few deep, good changes, you will surely find it. Start by seeing what qualities and emotions you honestly want in your life. See what is working well and also find what is missing and start to add it in, one small change at a time. If you deeply feed your genuine nature and loving presence, bit by bit, it will be renewed, grow and bloom.
When you truly love yourself, it shows. You exude confidence and warmth. You become the best version of yourself. If we don’t love ourselves, insecurity becomes a regular guest in our minds, bitterness lurks on the outskirts and gloom is never far behind. Nobody enjoys being around with someone who predominantly exudes negativity, so invest in your own long-term happiness and look after yourself first. It is where self-love comes. Here we can see the importance of checking ‘VITALS’. It stands for six aspects of our personality that we must pay special attention to in order to get to know yourself better. Because once you know who you are, you can embrace it, and defend it with courage and compassion. Following are the six ‘VITALS’ signs:
- Values – what do you admire most in yourself and others? It can be creativity, kindness, health etc. Assert your values and let them motivate you.
- Interests – these are your passions or hobbies. Spending time on your own interest will colour your life and keep you diligent, determined and excited.
- Temper – knowing your preference will guide you in selecting the environment, relationships and situations in which you are most likely to succeed.
- Around the Clock Activities – your peak energy times affect your efficiency and performance. You may be a morning person or a night owl. Maximizing the times when your energy is the highest will make you feel more you.
- Life Missions – this is an intimidating one. You have to find out the most meaningful events of your life. This will make you know what you really value and how you spend most of your time to make your life more meaningful.
- Strengths – knowing your strengths and weaknesses is really important for being super you. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on building your strengths to its full potential. Along with that, you have to find your weaknesses too, so that you can find ways to mitigate them.
Everything starts from yourself first. Sometimes it is very important to be happy with spending time with yourself. If you enjoy spending time with yourself, people will ultimately enjoy spending time with you. It is very healthy to have a relationship with yourself. In order to have a good relationship with yourself, you have to accept yourself. It’s okay to be good and not so good; funny and not so funny; beautiful and not so beautiful. If you want to be in a relationship with another person, you have to love your relationship with yourself first. Oftentimes you would hear people say, love yourself first before loving someone else; well it is true. You have to love and accept yourself, flaws and all, in order for you to love and accept another person, flaws and all. You can’t have one without the other.
The game of life has proven to be a survival of the fittest, and because you are your biggest asset, you have to know yourself entirely. Getting to know oneself is a beautiful never-ending discovery that will help you advance in every aspect of your life. When you know your self-worth, you will be having a healthier relationship with friends and in love. Knowing what you like and don’t like will drive you towards the right people, the same way that it will make you drive past those who you know are not good for you.
You can ask the universe for all the signs you want, but ultimately, we see what we want to see when we are ready to see it. In learning about yourself, trust your gut and your inner GPS to guide you. No one can do for you what you can do for yourself. So, when you ask for advice, you actually already know what you should do by your intuition, however, we seek the opinions of others to change our minds. You have all the answers; learn to read the signs, which your subconscious wants you to be conscious of.
Demonstrate love by giving it unconditionally to yourself and as you do, you will attract others into your life who will love you without conditions. If you try to pour from an empty cup, nothing will come out. Once you fill the cup, you are able to pour into many different glasses. This is the same with self-love, if you are trying to give from an empty container, you won’t be able to pour anything out even if you try. Once you are full of self-love, it is much easier to pour your love into other people, since you are not trying to give from something that is empty.
Finding yourself and knowing who you really are, gives you a new perspective and is important as we grow and find our purpose in life. There is always room for learning new things and exploring new opportunities. As we enter the different stages of life has to offer, we may have to re-evaluate ourselves. It is all about the journey and finding the best things in life to fulfil yourself…
