know yourself better to make the right decisions
"Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom." Aristotle
Not knowing who you truly are may affect your confidence and your ability to make decisions. You may take action based on what others think, or based on what you think you should do (rather than want to do). Unfortunately, our education system doesn’t really give us that knowledge and most people will go through their life without taking the time to really get to know themselves.
If you’re reading this today, you’ve decided to change that, take the control back - amazing! In this article, I’m sharing a 6-step process to know yourself better, and it comes with a 20-page workbook - for free!
WHAT IS SELF-KNOWLEDGE?
“It is the knowledge or understanding of one's own capabilities, character, feelings, or motivations.” (Merriam-Webster dictionary)
It’s knowing who you are, deep down, at your core. It’s knowing what makes you tick, what makes you happy and angry. It’s knowing why you act, speak and interact the way you do. It’s accepting your strengths and your weaknesses.
Having an in-depth knowledge of who you are will help you:
Be clear on what you want to get out of life
Make the right decisions for yourself – and not others
Take control of your life and career
Tackle your self-limiting beliefs and fears
Be more confident and prouder of who you are
Learn to say no by knowing your boundaries
Understand and improve your relationships with others
Achieve your vision and dreams
Ultimately, build a happy and fulfilling life
HOW CAN I grow my self-knowledge?
First, you need to invest time in self-knowledge: your future self will thank you for that. Maybe you won’t use that new knowledge straight away, but it’ll be stored away and will become very useful the day you have to make an important life decision.
You’ll need to be open-minded, happy to challenge yourself and kind to yourself. You might learn things that are difficult to face.
I’ve designed this workbook to help you learn about yourself so that you can make informed decisions in the future.
Step 1. Clarify your vision of the future
Knowing what you’re aiming for is the first step in knowing who you are. So I’d like you to start thinking about what you want to achieve in the next few years. It doesn't have to be a very detailed picture. It can be a bit hazy. It's aspirational. It's probably going to change. But it's going to be your guide, your north star, your red thread.
Step 2. Identify your values
Values drive our thoughts, behaviours, actions and decisions. They define who we are and what we want to be. When we go against our values, it feels like there's a disconnect and it can lead to unhappiness. They are pretty stable throughout our life, but they can change over time depending on life events.
Step 3. UNDERSTAND WHAT ENERGISES AND DRAINS YOU
A strength is something you're good at, that you do often and that you enjoy doing. When you use your strengths, you are energised and motivated. I call these energisers. On the other end of the scale, you'll find your drainers. They are activities and tasks that drain your energy and that you tend to procrastinate.
Step 4. EXPLORE YOUR PERSONALITY TRAITS
Our personality is made of many traits that explain why we behave, communicate and make decisions in a certain way. Our personality type is pretty stable, but it can change slightly as we grow older and our experience changes the way we do things. Knowing and exploring your personality type will help you understand why some things feel right or wrong.
Step 5. ASSESS YOUR SKILLS
Skills are things that you've learned to do, either when studying or through experience. They reflect what you CAN do, but be aware that they might not be something that you ENJOY doing.
Step 6. TAKE ACTION
By looking at how your values, strengths, personality traits and skills will help you achieve your vision, you will come up with a set of actions to implement.