The parable of the crow and the eagle shows very nicely that to compare oneself or to assess one's possibilities unrealistically is more likely to lead to difficulties.

Know thyself is a very well-known saying in the West. I think, despite its depth, it is still misunderstood.

In the Buddhist tradition they speak of the "emptiness of things". Unfortunately Westerners interpret this with a "nothing". But since a nothing can neither be imagined nor exist, it is most likely to be interpreted with "death", the thought of death is the closed door that does not allow further thoughts. But this is not what the Teaching means. The emptiness of things means the impossibility of fixing a certain state.

This implies that the fixation of a certain identity can only ever come too late, because every present moment already demands to be able to take on as many identities as possible, which one tries to explain with the term empathy. Therefore, without a context I cannot say at all who I actually am, because my being always depends on that context.

I don't like the term "the better version of myself" very much, because there is something product-like about it, as if the human being is a kind of promotional article through the version of himself. For me, every version of myself has the connotation of a play, and ... But ... if I look at it that way, then I have to admit that I'm probably also a theatre player, although I don't need to tie myself to the play.

The emptiness of a thing... I imagine it like an empty stage, which is always only temporarily occupied by something that is just needed, but which basically holds no attribution due to the constant change. That includes all levels of systems.