Understand Myself
The hardest person to get to know isn’t a stranger. The hardest person to get to know is in the same room with you at all times. That person is yourself. It can be tough to get to know your inner feelings and your most profound dreams, but there are ways to uncover this stranger’s true self.
You can say, finding yourself is not easy. But it’s an important part of knowing ones self. Here’s how to understand yourself better.
“The more you know yourself, the more patience you have for what you see in others.” – Erik Erikson
Figure Out Your Core Values
Our core values often play the most significant roles in motivating our life choices. Psychologists say there are eight of these values that guide our most significant decisions. It’s okay to have different values than others around you. Some of these values include honesty, morality, compassion, and open-mindedness. Sit down and write down the top eight values for you. Decide what’s important to you. This will help you understand why you make many of the choices you do in all areas of your life.
Figure Out What You Value In Others
You don’t want to be anyone but yourself, yet you need to figure out what you value in others, so you know what means a lot to you in people. Odds are, if you admire your honest friends, have ambition or are close to their family, these are things you wish for yourself as well. You don’t have to be exactly like them. You can strive to have certain characteristics of others for better success in your life. You may love that one of your friends gets up at 5 AM to workout so you can take a try at doing the same. We often begin to adopt the characteristics of those that are around us the most, so choose this circle wisely.
Let Go Of Expecting Too Much
Most people expect too much of themselves. We believe if we don’t do all we think we should, we fail as people. Let go of expecting too much of yourself. Have goals and try to achieve them, but don’t go crazy when things don’t go your way. Accept that your world isn’t tumbling down because something in your life didn’t go as expected. You might take a different career path at one time, you might date a dud, or you might fail at something. These changes in life lead you to become a better person.
Don’t Try To Fit In
Not everyone is going to like you. You may be the most popular person on the planet, but someone won’t like you. Don’t try to fit in with everyone. Don’t flex yourself to be like everyone else around you so that you can fit in a particular circle. Be yourself, so you don’t lose yourself. When you realize the feeling of not fitting in, be proud that you’re not like the rest of the crowd. Lead your own circle and this will help you understand yourself a bit better.
Be proud that you’re not like the rest of the crowd
Figure Out Your Drive
Think about the things you do daily. Ask yourself why you do these things. Do you care about finances the most? Do you just want your family to be happy? Whatever your drive in life is, this is a massive thing about you. It’s where all your values and your self meet in one place. You have to learn why you wake up in the morning. Ask yourself if you’re better at deadlines or working without pressure. Ask yourself if you like to plan or be spontaneous. You’ll realize all of these things make up your drive in life.
Listen To Your Positive Inner Voice
Your inner voice judges you more than it does anyone else. It often hurts us because we only listen to the wrong things it tells us. It’s okay to listen to the inner voices but take away the negative words. Listen to the good things it tells you about yourself. Your inner voice might stand in the way of your happiness because it often tells us we don’t look good enough, work hard enough, or aren’t good enough for the world. Take out the bullying, and listen only to the positive thoughts.Â
Start A Journal
Speaking of your inner voice, transfer it to a journal. You can find and know yourself on the deepest level by journaling. There are no rules when you’re writing. Let your inner voice guide you to write what you feel. You have to be quiet and really dig in when you begin to write. No one else is going to read these words, so you don’t have to worry about anyone judging you. Your true self can pour into the pages because it’s all about you. Listen to your deepest thoughts and read your most profound words to uncover your real inner voice.
Get To Know Your Body
Getting to know yourself doesn’t have to only be about your psychological self. You can also get to know your physical self. This isn’t about all of your flaws. This is about getting to identify ways to push yourself physically. This might mean finding out you’re a fantastic swimmer. It could mean you’re a tennis ace. You might just be great at meditation. You need to be in tune with your body so you know what it can do. ‎While you’re figuring this out, find out ways to love those flaws as well.
You need to be in tune with your body so you know what it can do
Find Your Mission
Find your mission in life by figuring out the most meaningful times of your life. Think about the events that have shaped you as a person. How did they lead you to where you are today? How can they lead you to better satisfaction in life? It’s good to uncover these answers, so you better understand some of the ways you handle things. You may have had traumatic experiences that cause you to handle everything in life a certain way. You may take little things from many different events in your life. Find your mission through these events.Â
Listen To Your Automatic Thoughts
Many times our automatic thoughts are negative or even irrational. You may choose to fall into these negative thoughts accepting them as truth. You then start to have a bad day and see yourself in a negative light. When you have a positive self-value, you begin catching negative thoughts and turning them around. You can redirect your mind when you hear automatic negative thoughts. When you hear negative thoughts, take a deep breath, and challenge them. Know when they’re irrational. Know when they’re bad for your mind. You know you’re good enough. Tell this to yourself over and over, so the positive slowly takes over the negative automatic thoughts.
Uncover Your Hobbies
Do you know what you enjoy doing for fun? Do you just go along with the grain and do whatever everyone else is doing? Take time to figure out what it is that you love to do. You might uncover the fact you genuinely love hiking and hate painting. You might’ve gone bowling with friends a million times, yet didn’t enjoy it. Try out other activities like yoga or a spin class. You might love cooking, so try cooking classes. A little experimenting might uncover a whole new level of yourself.
A little experimenting might uncover a whole new level of yourself
Find Your Patterns In Life
Find the repeating patterns in your life. Ask yourself about your habits in relationships, both personal and professional. If your relationships with friends and loved ones often suffer, ask yourself what you are repeatedly doing that causes these failures. If you keep getting close to your professional dreams but fail, then ask yourself what you are doing wrong each time. Repetitive situations and conflicts often keep us from achieving our goals in life. Once we figure out what is going wrong, we can work to fix these wrongs. We can rise above the mistakes and move toward situations positively.
Words Of Affirmation
Tell yourself as much as possible that you’re worth it. Give yourself the positive push so you can find the goodness within yourself. You’ll begin to see all of the good things about yourself this way. Think about all of the great things about your life. Face the day with these affirmations.
Take Care Of Yourself
It’s essential to nurture yourself so you can love yourself. Practice self-care so you can get to know what motivates you. This could mean taking a warm bath with candles, going for a jog, or simply taking a nap. Refresh yourself, so you don’t go crazy during the day. Challenges are a daily struggle, so you need to be at your peak self, so you know how to approach them.
Knowing your true self will lead to a higher level of success in all areas of your life. Being true to that person is one of the most important things you’ll ever do in life. Get to know the stranger living inside you, and you’ll be further ahead in life than most people.