There was this young man that I met some years back when they packed into the neighborhood I stayed before. I observed him, he would always change his goals, opinions, and lifestyle just to fit into the friends around him or out of peer pressure. At a point, I got closer to him, and in one of the times we discussed, he told me that he is confused about life and that he does not even know what he was doing. I advised him to take a reflection of what he really wants and go after it without the need to be in someone else's shadows. When he started to reflect on himself; on his strength and weakness, he understood himself well, and he began making better decisions, and taking steps towards his goals. He stopped living to please people, but to fulfill his dreams. This is what happens when you know yourself.
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You will be surprised how lots of people spend their time trying to understand others and to know their opinions, behaviour, strength, expectations, and even their weakness. Well, it is true that it is good to understand people. However, one of the greatest services you will do to yourself is to understand your own self. Knowing yourself is the foundation upon which a lot of things can be built on; things like growth, confidence, wise decision-making, emotional balance, etc. Without self-awareness, it will be easy to lose direction, and you may even see yourself following the crowd or chasing after new trends without knowing where you are even going to. You should live your life based on your values and purpose, not on the expectations of others.
Knowing yourself is also what tells you about your weaknesses, strengths, goals, emotions, habits, beliefs, etc. When you know yourself it will be easier to act, and there are also somethings that you will not do. Imagine a lion going to eat grass. Definitely it will not. This is not because grasses are not edible, but because it has understood that it is supposed to eat flesh as a carnivore, not grass as a herbivore. It is self-awareness that helps you to make decisions that will align with your goals, not to be constantly seeking for approval from others.
One of the reasons why knowing yourself is important is that it helps you to build confidence. If you know yourself, you will be less likely to be moved or controlled by comparison or by external opinions. It will also help you to understand your strengths and limitations, which will help you to pass through life with more clarity and stability. But if you do not know yourself, you will be moved around by what people say or think, and you may also depend on people to define your true identity.
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Another reason why you need to know yourself is because it makes you to take the right decision and to make the right choices. When you understand yourself, your goals, your dreams, and your values, it will become easier to choose a path, or to choose your environment, your friends, habits, opportunities to take, and the actions to make. This helps you to avoid following a path that does not lead you to the fulfillment of your dreams simply because others are following it. More so, by knowing yourself first, you will not be pressured to do what you are not supposed to, if it does not align with your values. Just like a lion cannot be pressured into eating grass, because it does not align with its value.
Knowing yourself also gives you emotional control. By knowing yourself, you will know what triggers you emotionally, your weaknesses, and the habits to avoid. It also helps your to manage your reactions and improve your behaviour. This prevents you from making the same mistake without even realising it. More so, knowing yourself also improves your relationship with people. This is because it will help you to communicate in a better way, and set better and healthier boundaries. You will not have to project your insecurities on other people or seek for unnecessary and unhealthy validation. You will also know the right people to have around you, and you will maintain a healthy circle, not just allowing everyone into your life.
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