These Simple Questions Can Show Whether Or Not You Know Yourself
And it is very important to know yourself, isn’t it?
It is important to know yourself. I am not speaking in the broad sense of knowing who you are. I am talking about knowing how you function as a person. In what circumstances do you perform best? And in what circumstances do you perform worst? A racer has to know every little detail going into his or her car to make the best use of it. A photographer has to know all the specifics of his or her gear to make the best use of them as well. In the same fashion, we have to know ourselves well to make the best use of our strengths as humans. Every single individual is so different that there is no complete user manual to how any person operates. In fact, self-realization and understanding is a lifelong process and the sooner you start the better.
”Can’t I just do a personality test?”
Personality type indicators like Myers-Briggs, and Big Five are good starting points in getting to know yourself, but as I said earlier, it is impossible to have a complete user manual telling you how you function as a person. Various personality frameworks could give you a general picture into how you might be as a person, but they are to be treated as references at most. They are in no way meant to be treated as definite guides. The journey of knowing yourself better is a journey you have to take on your own.
”What questions to ask myself then?”
Asking yourself questions is a great way to know yourself better. Sometimes you might find it hard to answer even the simplest questions because you truly have not thought about it much and it often doesn’t feel natural to observe yourself. This is when you know you have to observe yourself more often.
The questions I ask myself constantly are:
- What are my strengths?
- What are my weaknesses?
- What do I enjoy doing?
- What do I not enjoy doing?
- What makes me happy?
- What makes me unhappy or upset?
- What makes me nervous or uncomfortable?
- When am I most productive?
- When am I most creative?
My tip for you is to write these questions down somewhere, on a notebook or a note-taking app on your phone or even your journal, and answers to them as you find answers in your daily life.
These questions are not definitive in any way. They are simple questions that reveal a lot about how you react to certain things or situations. You can add or subtract questions to your list as much as you want.
You might not be able to answer these questions right away like how you answer test questions. There might be answers you don’t have right now. Those are questions you should keep in mind as you navigate through your daily lives. There will be situations where you react either joyfully or awfully to a certain thing somebody said, or you feel particularly happy or sad or angry or annoyed or afraid. These are the situations when you can observe the cause of these emotions and write them down.
“I answered the questions, so what now?”
You have now found some answers to some of the questions, what do you do with that?
Ask the Why behind everything. Knowing the reason you enjoy something would open yourself up to more things that you might enjoy. Knowing the reason behind the cause of positive emotions reinforces them. Meanwhile, knowing the reason behind why a certain thing could trigger negative emotions in you could open up possibilities of overcoming these strongholds.
Every single person is subconsciously wired to react to a certain situation in a certain way. Knowing yourself means knowing how you react to what. Identifying those negative reactions and the cause of them would allow you to rewire them your reactions by being wary of them on a daily basis.
Once you have identified something that always triggers a negative emotional response, you have two options to go with it.
- You live with it and tell people that is just who you are. You try your best to avoid situations that would pull the trigger, hoping for the best.
- You acknowledge the cause, and face it with the intent of overcoming it because it is a hindrance to you being the best possible version of yourself.
None of them are wrong. Running away isn’t wrong. You are surrendering yourself to your weaknesses and trying to live with your wounds. Regardless of how, who, and when you got hurt, it is something you are born into, not with. I always choose option 2, as I never back down on a battle to be a better me. Overcoming these negative emotional response chains would result in better emotional and mental wellbeing, as well as better interpersonal communication, and in turn better relationships. That’s what I want, whatever it takes. You could, too.
Something else I do: Journaling and Thought Capturing
A lot of information about us lie in our emotions and thoughts throughout the day. I take the time to introspect and reflect on my day before I sleep. I write it down in my esthetically pleasing digital journal of choice Card Diary before I sleep. You might have a rough sense of what you think, but these thoughts materialize and turn into something tangible once you write them down. Seeing your thoughts in words lets you see the bigger picture. Throughout the day, I also write down sudden thoughts and emotions whether positive or negative in Drafts for the same purpose — to see my thoughts in words. This is in addition to answering the questions I set up for myself.
Summary
Knowledge is power. And knowledge about yourself, your body, your mind is the key to unlocking the endless potential within you. It takes time to truly understand yourself (I am not sure if that is even a thing), but it doesn’t take much to start. All you need are simple questions.
Simple questions can show whether or not you know yourself. What you do afterwards decide whether you improve as a person.
