Know Yourself

Do you know, there is a unique person close at hand, who is like no other person around you, who is an interesting mix of characteristics and who has a lot to offer the world! Don’t you want to meet this person? Don’t you want to know all about her?

Well, look into your mirror! There she is!

Every one of us is special, gifted in different ways, and needs to be an important cog in the great wheel that is our society. However, to find your place, to choose your way, you need to understand yourself first, and then evaluate your options accordingly. Only when you know yourself well you can choose wisely and stand strongly by your choice.

But how do you get to know yourself well? Introspection doesn’t come easy to most of us! So here are some tips you can use, and some questions you can ask yourself and get the answers.

1. Keep a daily diary. You can ideally write in it the last thing before going to sleep at night. And what should you record in it? Well, here goes:

• How did you spend your leisure time?
• What did you learn and whether you enjoyed the learning or not?
• What did you watch on TV / other media?
• What did you read?
• What did you do well?
• What did you do badly?
• Did anyone praise you – what was it for?
• Did anyone criticise you – what was it for?

When you have maintained the diary for 2-3 months, go back and read it. You will get to know which activities have engaged you the most, what are your strengths and weaknesses, and many other things! A diary is also an indispensable tool when it comes to Goal Setting.

2. Often, we spend much more time observing and judging other people when that is not going to help at all! If we spent as much thought on ourselves, it would go a long way in helping us choose an optimal career path.
Here are a few questions you can ask yourself:

• Whom do you look up to? This should be somebody real, whom you admire a lot, and keep track of, not some distant idol. Would you want to do what they are doing? Is your admiration just from afar, or would you enjoy doing similar work, and achieving similar things.
• Which experiences have you enjoyed in the past? What did you enjoy about them? Which experiences have you not enjoyed?
• What are your hobbies and how good are you at them? Using your diary, can you verify that you are spending at least few hours per week on the hobbies you are serious about?
• What activities do you find boring and why?
• Which subjects do you enjoy at school – and how do you score at them? Which subjects do you not enjoy?
• Imagine you are writing a character sketch of yourself for someone else or perhaps as a school assignment. Describe yourself in the third person in about 300-400 words!

Do go back and read your notes from time to time when in doubt about what to do, what to select, etc.

People around you, your parents, siblings, extended family, friends, as well as your teachers, coaches or mentors know you well too. They have spent a lot of time with you, observing your strengths and capabilities. Talk to them casually and get to know what abilities and qualities they have observed about you. They will know what are your natural talents – they can also help you with tips if are attentive to what they have to say. Talking to your well wishers helps your boost your morale too.