Know Thyself

Socrates said, "To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom." How do you know yourself?

Know thyself.

The Greek philosopher, Socrates, believed this was the FIRST step to true wisdom and understanding, as you cannot appreciate what you understand and what is left to be learned if you fail to truly know yourself.

A maxim is a short, pithy statement that expresses a general truth or rule of conduct. This maxim, "Know thyself", was inscribed on the ancient Temple of Apollo in the Greek precinct of Delphi. Socrates based his philosophical teachings on the premise, "To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom."

A simple, but profound statement.

But Socrates was not alone in his belief in mindfulness.

In the 5th Century BC, Siddhartha Gautama was a wandering ascetic religious teacher in South Asia who founded Buddhism. Gautama believed in the importance of mindfulness and the dangers of not knowing, when he declared, "The only challenge for the human race is ignorance."

Know thyself.

Lau Tzu, a Chinese philosopher who lived in the 6th Century BC, said, "Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power."

Know thyself.

This mindfulness theme also appears throughout the Bible. The Psalmist David writes of his times of reflective thinking in an effort to "know himself" and the God he served. (Psalm 139:4). This theme continues in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Lamentations. Jesus continued this theme in his Sermon on the Mount.

Know thyself.

The Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 11:28 and again in 2 Corinthians 13:5, called on his audience, a young group of believers in Corinth, to "Examine yourself..." In Romans 12:3, he challenged the young believers in Rome to be honest in the evaluation of themselves. He continues this theme in his letters to Timothy.

Know thyself.

In 1793, Samuel Kirkland, a Presbyterian minister and missionary to the Oneida Indians, presented a "Plan of Education" to George Washington and with his blessing, founded a college to be named after Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, who consented to serve as a Trustee of the school.

At the top of the college's seal, in Greek, are these words:

"Know thyself."

We see this theme permeating various cultures, religions, and people groups throughout recorded history. These philosophers, teachers, and leaders all understood a basic premise of self-awareness that is critical to our personal growth and achieving our full potential in life.

How can you become all you can be if you don't even know who you are and what you are capable of?

Who are you?

It's an important question that only you can answer.

Why?

If you don't know yourself, you can't grow yourself.

You remain stuck where you are, as you are, ignorant of your potential for greatness, of becoming all you can be.

Remember, as you think, you become.

When you stop thinking, you stop becoming.

This is why knowing yourself is SO important. The more you become AWARE of who you are and what you are capable of becoming, the more you are able to SEE and SEIZE the opportunities that are in front of you and experience MORE success in life.

Not knowing limits your opportunities, your outcomes, and your results.

Think about it this way...

Your thoughts form your beliefs. Your beliefs dictate your actions. Your actions determine the outcomes you experience and the success you enjoy.

So, your thoughts are creating the reality you are experiencing right now, at this very moment. Your thoughts are dictating the actions you are taking that determine the quality of life you're experiencing right now, at this very moment.

And if you're continuously thinking the same thoughts, you are experiencing the same outcomes, re-creating the same outcomes over and over again.

How is that working out for you?

Until you take the time to know yourself, you don't know what you are capable of becoming, and what you're capable of doing, and you're limiting yourself in the process. You're settling for less, and that's NOT a recipe for success in life.

In scientific terms, it's cause and effect. Choices and consquences.

In practical terms, it's being willing to get outside our comfort zone, into that uncomfortable place where growth happens, and discovering we are capable of more than we are doing right now.

It's going within ourselves, challenging the conventional thinking that was programmed in our minds during the early formative years of our lives. This programming formed the limiting beliefs within us that are holding us back from improving the quality of our thinking, believing, and acting.

It's limiting our success.

One of my mentors, Christian Simpson, rightly says, "If you fail to go within, you will go without."

Habits are ingrained patterns of thinking; pre-programmed beliefs that govern (and often restrict) our lives. Habits allow us to recreate the same outcomes over and over again, unconsciously, going through life on autopilot.

Albert Einstein said the very definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different outcome. Yet, this is what habitual thinking does to us. Habitual thinking leads to habitual behaviors, and nothing changes in our lives.

We remain stuck, unable to move forward and experience a greater level of success in our lives.

We remain as we are, where we are, living a status quo existence.

If you don't take the time to truly know yourself and discover who you truly are and what you're capable of becoming, you're failing to tap into your untapped potential, your unique Black Belt Leader Within, waiting to be discovered, developed, and deployed.

As you think, you become. As you become you do.

Life rewards the doer, the person who takes action.

But until you change your thinking, you won't change your doing.

So, how do we know ourselves?

First, get to know yourself. Take an assessment to understand who you are. I've been using the Real Life Management 3-Minute Survey for over 15 years to help individuals understand how they are "hard-wired" for success and identify the self-sabotaging attitudes and beliefs that hold them back. I'm also a DISC-certified human behavior consultant and Emotional Intelligence Coach.

An assessment provides you with a blueprint of your thinking, what's important to you, and why, and can serve as a starting point for becoming more self-aware of who you are and who you can ultimately become.

Second, you need to identify your core values, those non-negotiables in your life that define who you are. These are the guiding principles of your life, the foundational commitments and deeply held beliefs that govern your thoughts and corresponding actions. This is the essence of what you believe, and why, and these core values define who you are and what you can ultimately become.

Third, you need to evaluate your body, starting with your physical capabilities and what you can do to improve yourself physically. You need to examine your diet, what you're putting in your body, as well as the amount of (and quality of) rest you're getting.

Let's be honest, if you're fat and out of shape, or you're always tired, you're limiting your potential. Knowing yourself also requires that you identify what you need to be doing so you're in top physical condition to take on the challenges required to achieve more success in life.

You also need to examine your mental capabilities. What are you doing to daily stretch and improve the quality of your thinking? How do you react to stress and what can you do to better manage it?

After all, you can't outperform the quality of thinking you bring to any endeavor.

Fourth, knowing yourself requires that you identify your likes and dislikes. What excites you, that gets you up every single morning ready to take on the day? These are the things that motivate you, inspire you, and fuel you. The things that you don't like to do don't energize you, they drain you. You can't be successful, long-term, doing the things you dislike doing. That's a recipe for disaster, or burnout at a minimum.

Identifying your likes and dislikes is an indicator of your areas of giftedness, competencies, and stressors. It's an essential element in knowing yourself, as you perform best, and experience the greatest outcomes, when you're operating in the 20% of your greatest giftedness - doing what you love to do.

Lastly, knowing yourself is about identifying your purpose, your passion, or your calling. It's recognizing that burning desire, that heartfelt dream within you, a cause, or a mission that's greater than you. It's finding the reason you were put on this earth and how you're going to pursue it to fulfill your life and change the world around you in some way.

I opened this article with a pointed question, and let me close with it as well:

How can you become all you can be if you don't even know who you are and what you are capable of?

The answer is simple:

Know yourself.