You must know yourself

The biggest mistake people make is avoiding to make mistakes. This is the most authentic way for us to move in the direction that we want to go.

People have a negative perception of “mistakes”.

The reality is that it’s an inevitable part of life and the sooner you realize that, the sooner you can start living your true authentic life.

All suffering arises from your own ignorance - not knowing how to deal with thoughts, emotions, and feelings - leads to the internal chaos that is triggered by external events.

Knowing yourself is the foundation of personal growth and ultimately fulfillment.

Self-Awareness

Let me ask you a simple question and take a minute to think about it:

who are you?

It is a simple question but a challenging answer. I’ve spent 6 years trying to understand this concept of myself and I can tell you exactly who I am not.

Let’s analyze this together and try to scan it through yourself as you’re reading this. When I ask other people to answer this question these are the main answers I get.

Their name. Occupation. Brother, sister, father, mother… Man, woman. Mind. Human being….

These are true answers but they are superficial. They are a part of you but they are not you.

Let’s take a look at it from a more philosophical point of view. A way that a yogi or a monk might answer this question.

Your name is something your mom and dad decided to call you by. People change their names all the time. So can you say that you are your name? No, because it’s just a label. Today you’re Johny, tomorrow you can be Bob. However, it’s still the same you within.

Your occupation is something that you do for a living. People change their occupations. I am approaching that period myself. It’s a way to describe your job, but that is not you.

Thoughts, feelings emotions - they all come and go. These are different things you experience through the function of your mind. You may say “ I am thinking about this”. Who is the one thinking? The same goes for feelings. Who is the one feeling or experiencing emotions? You are not thoughts, feelings, emotions, or the mind because you are the one experiencing all of this.

Who is experiencing that?

Man or woman. This is another biological label. We are in a time when people are the most confused. You can change your name, you can change your occupation, name, and we even see that people think they can change their gender… however, who is the one that observes all of that internally? The one that never changes. From the day you are born to the day that you die.

The one that catches yourself thinking, feeling, and realizing that you are none of those things listed above.

The one that never changes.

You are the observer. Awareness. Consciousness. That is the real you.

You probably have never really taken the time to question yourself on a deeper level. Most people don’t. That is why it is so easy to control the masses. People who make decisions (government, political parties, media, corporations…), know something about you that you don’t know about yourself.

Self-awareness empowers you to recognize your patterns, behaviors, thoughts, emotions, feelings, and words which enables you to respond to situations in ways that are authentic and meaningful to you.

Clarity of Purpose

Recently I went through a period where I felt lazy. I felt like I was wasting time.

However, what I realized during that period, it wasn’t that I was lazy, I simply lost clarity of my purpose.

The whole point of knowing oneself is that it provides clarity of purpose and direction in life.

There is nothing wrong with going off track once in a while. You have to f**k around to find out.

Nevertheless, you must always turn back to your purpose, your why.

This is your compass in life.

Once you understand your why, you then begin to comprehend what truly matters to you, why you do certain things, and what drives you as a human being, as consciousness.

I look at purpose as fuel in one’s life. Without purpose and meaning you won’t evolve anywhere close to someone that makes choices in alignment with values and aspirations.

Purpose.

This simply reflects how aware you are of yourself. When I work with people who are looking to improve their lives, I ask them to name their top 5 values.

Most people stumble because they never really thought about it. This leads them to think on the spot and come up with answers that don’t align with who they are.

Values are always reflected by actions.

Actions are reflected by clarity of purpose.

Authenticity and Empowerment

As a human species, we are always longing for connection, acceptance, and belonging - that is why you may feel the need to put on a facade, to fit in.

Just like a small pebble that causes many ripples when thrown into a body of water, so does a small decision, that may ultimately lead to a feeling of not understood.

All of this stems from a lack of not knowing oneself. The simple act of authenticity.

Knowing oneself enables you to live your life authentically, without the need to conform to others’ expectations or social norms.

You have to make choices that are not always easy.

Hard choices and temporary moments of discomfort lead to an easy and happy life. Easy choices lead to hard moments, suffering, and a difficult life.

This is where you can separate yourself from the masses and connect with like-minded individuals who are focused on helping each other evolve.

This is a Universal Law - like attracts like.

The simple act of knowing and being your true authentic self, even if that causes you to step into uncomfortable situations of not “fitting in”, will eventually lead to connecting with similar-minded individuals.

It is a beautiful process that becomes empowering.

It shifts the locus of control from external circumstances to internal states. You begin to realize that rather than being driven by external validation you are much more self-reliant which leads to empowerment and creating the life that you desire.

In essence, knowing oneself is the foundation of personal development and the key to living a happy and purposeful life. It allows you to establish a deeper connection with yourself and the world around you.

As little as spending 18 minutes a day, which adds up to 100 hours in a year, working on any discipline, will separate you from 95% of the world in that discipline.

Only 18 minutes a day.

Enjoy the process!!!