Know Thyself, admonished the ancient Greeks, failing, however, to provide instructions on how to do it.
Of course they meant the inner self, the true self, the one that’s hiding underneath all the masks, beliefs and neuroses that we call our personality.
How does one get to know oneself and why should one bother?
The answer to the ‘why?’ is simple: happiness. You cannot achieve authentic long-lasting happiness until you truly and clearly see, know, understand, value and honour yourself.
All the ‘stuff’ in the world, all the luxury, fame and fortune will at best provide temporary distractions – you cannot escape yourself.
The answer to the ‘how?’ is complicated and can be different for different people. The first step, however, is the same for everyone: self-examination.
Self-examination begins with examining the content of your mind. In order to examine it, you’ll need to write out everything that’s in your mind and spread in front of you so you can see the whole picture.
Start with your identity, your beliefs, your values for each area of your life. Then add your hopes, dreams, your plans and your strategies.
If you stick with the process and do a thorough job of it, you will unburden your mind and allow it to simply observe and evaluate the totality of you.
This is exactly what the Get To Know Your Authentic Self workshop is all about, if you need some help with the process.