9 Areas Of Life Where Self-Knowledge Comes To Your Help

“Know Thyself” was written in gold in the forecourt of the Apollo temple in Delphi. There were those who believed it descended from heaven. Psychologists use this proverb as verification of their point of view such as: “See! Even the wise ancient Greeks told you so.” "Discovering Me!" Online Program

Once, while attending college, I went to an exam for Clinical Psychology. Before the real deal, somehow my musician past came up when the examiner – therapist himself – responded with two words: – “Diffuse Identification”. I was quite embarrassed, and felt very uncertain but annoyed at the same time. Why?

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I wasn’t sure if changing a career path is really identical with diffuse identification, but the labeling and using the exam situation for diagnostics made me mad. On the other hand, this provoked me to think about my choices: how did I gravitate towards a musician career and why did I change? It gave me pause and I reflected about those choices and circumstances – and also some recognition about the professor’s behavior: Why exactly did he show off with his instant diagnostic ability?

I am sure you can recall similar events from your life, and probably you agree with me: had we known more about ourselves, we would have responded more appropriately.

The worth of Self-Knowledge seems to be self-evident, yet filling the “whys” into words doesn’t come easy.

Let’s take this into account and determine the value of Self-Knowledge?

1 CHOICES

Before a career choice, I usually say to people to think about the following: one third of your adult life you will spend in your workplace! It has to be something that you enjoy.

Aha, but there is a catch! – It reflects on my priorities! I prefer joyful activity higher than money or anything else, but others might prefer money, prestige or authority above all. This is why I think every advice is somewhat lacking: it is based on the other person’s character, principles and values.

In the area of choices, the advantage of Self-Knowledge is the most obvious: the more we are aware of our characteristics, the better we chose a fitting job, partner, friends and lifestyle.

On every occasion, we need to overview hundreds of different variables:
In a career choice:
- Do I prefer money more than the joyfulness of an occupation? Can I withstand monotony? Do I have the appropriate skill for that particular job?

In the choice of a partner:
- Is the reliability of a partner more important than the physical attractiveness or the parenting skill?

In friendships:
- Do I need only a few but deep, honest friends or do I need the company of lots of friends even if the connection is superficial?

In a hobby:
- Should I join a book club or rather a mountaineer team?

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In parenting:
- Should I force more clothing onto the children or only my “warm-loving self” makes me feel like I’m too cold for a single sweater?

2 CONFLICTS