Dear Destiny Followers,
The more you know yourself, the more patience you have for what you see in others.” – Erik Erikson
One of the best things to happen to any individual is the ability to know himself.
If you are asked, who you are. What will be your response? To truly understand yourself, one must be able to know his strength, weakness, passion, interest, vision, and most importantly, what he represents or stands for.
Just like life is a continuous learning process, understanding oneself is a life journey. We never get to fully understand ourselves and our capability. That is why when we achieve an uncommon feat, we are literally humbled. Again, when we are faced with a dare-devil situation like being broke, provoked, bullied, etc., one will be surprised to notice how he may react. It is therefore difficult to say ‘I know myself’ because actions and reactions may sometimes differ.
As a Human Capacity Coach, my focus is to help every rational being discover their innate ability because it is only when they understand their innate ability, that they will be able to unleash their potential. It is important to state that we are all different and endowed with certain alienable gifts, talents and skills. Your duty is to uncover all the hidden potentials you have. Nobody knows you more than you know yourself. If you feel you have potential, dreams, goals, and inexplicable passion to birth a goal, but don’t know how to actualize, I will strongly advise you to find a coach to help you actualize it.
One of the worst feelings anyone can ever have is to live in regret. The greatest challenge most people have is that though they are truly inspired by listening to great speakers, mentors, leaders, pastors, etc. they lack the implementation strategy, which is why we all need a coach.
Understanding oneself comes in different dimensions. A man/woman will not say he/she has fully and truly understood themselves until they marry. Sometimes, you may not know your potential until you have an encounter with a life-transforming coach, mentor, or with God who literally opens your eyes to see a new version of yourself.
To understand how understanding oneself really works, imagine being in a room with total darkness and the light is turned on, your countenance, feeling, focus, vision, understanding will be totally different because you’ll derive an uncommon strength from the light. That’s how you know the level of potential and capabilities in you when you understand yourself.
Understanding oneself, in the simplest of terms, is illuminating your lie positively.
The question now becomes how does one understand himself. I will be sharing some tips to guide you.
Know your purpose
Your mission on planet earth is for a purpose. You have an assignment and divine mandate to fulfill your purpose. You can’t be existing instead of living. It’s sad to note that the graveyard is the richest place on planet earth because that’s where many talents are buried. There are many dynamics to finding your purpose. To discover your purpose, you can reach out to your creator, listen to yourself, and know what you are not comfortable with in the world.
Take personality test
Some people find this resourceful. There are several tests available. I don’t know if it truly works. But you can consider giving it a try. For instance, the “Myers-Briggs Personality type theory says that all people have one of sixteen different basic personalities. These personalities can predict how you interact with people, the kinds of interpersonal problems and strengths that you have, and what kind of environment you live and work in best”.
Be vulnerable
Vulnerability is truly underrated in our society. Only strong people and leaders are willing to share their weaknesses, experience, and failures. You are not truly free until you have lived your life without caring what other people are saying. On your journey of life, you don’t have to be hard on yourself. Give yourself the permission to explore new things by taking risks and you’ll understand who you are and what you are capable of doing.
Many people expect too much from themselves and when they don’t achieve their set targets and goals in life, they feel they are failures. This shouldn’t be the case. It’s your life and nobody’s life. So, live it to the fullest. Tomorrow, your mistakes will serve as an experience and learning curve. You’ll even laugh at them when you reflect. So, relax and enjoy the moments by traveling, getting an education, and having fewer expectations from people. Life is too short to live in regrets.
Be yourself
Don’t try to be like others. You must come to the realization that not everyone is going to like you. According to Oscar Wilde, be yourself, others are taken. Don’t try to fit in. Be the original version of yourself. This might be hard, but when you are your authentic self, your original friends will come close to you because they resonate with your work, but when you are fake, your original friends who are supposed to add value to your work will depart, and only fake people will resonate with you. Trust me, being fake is expensive while being true to yourself is cheap because you don’t have to spend or please anyone.
Do what makes you happy
One of the best ways to know oneself is by engaging in acts that make one happy. If I may ask you, what are your hobbies, what is the one thing you can do for free even if you are not paid for it?
How do you react?
It is widely stated that circumstances don’t say who you are, they reveal who you are. It’s not always right to assert how we’ll react when we are faced with different situations, because our reactions might be different when the occasion or situation rears its ugly head. One of the ways to know a man is to give him power, money, and riches. If he is able to overcome the pressures and temptations by managing them without them managing him, he’s truly a man.
In conclusion, regardless of what you may have experienced in life, don’t be hard on yourself; forgive yourself and if you feel you need someone to assist you in working through life, understanding oneself and how to unleash your potential by overcoming the challenges, setbacks, and failures of life, I’m here to assist you.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a Human Capacity & mindset coach. He’s also a public speaker. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the author of the acclaimed book Design Your Destiny – Actualizing Your Birthright To Success and President of gloemi.com. He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
