How Can I Understand Myself?
There are moments when you pause to look at yourself and ask, what is going on in your life? Who am I? How did I get to this stage in my life? Why am I doing this?
You are not alone. Many people live like they follow a manual without checking their actions. Sometimes you find yourself doing things that you don't believe. You are not sure why, yet you keep doing it.
When you don't get familiar with yourself, you get confused and frustrated. That makes it easy for others to influence you or force their ideology on you. In essence, you lose your individuality. People who have reached this level often ask, "How can I understand myself?" or "How can I understand myself and others better?"
By understanding yourself, you know what makes you unique from others around you. That way, you can live by your principles and not necessarily by others'. Besides, the more you know yourself, the happier you are, and the better you improve your life.
How can you know yourself better? Is it possible to fully understand yourself? If you are trying to figure yourself out, here are the ways to know yourself better, unlock your hidden potential and become self-satisfied.
9 Ways to Understand Yourself
Take a personality test
Your personality describes your unique features based on your thoughts, feelings, and reaction in different situations. It makes you different from others; however, it's not that easy to uncover. That's where a personality test comes into play.
A personality test like the Big Five Traits test helps you know your strengths, weaknesses, preference, interest, dislikes, and likes. By acknowledging these qualities, you know why you are different from others, and it will help you make strategic decisions in your life.
Write down your goals
Now that you know your unique features based on the personality test, it's time to put the information into use. Start by writing down your goals and your objectives. In other words, what is your plan for the future? What do you want to become? By writing this down, you have a clearer view of how to build your life.
Start a daily journal
Journaling helps you label your emotions, fears, and concerns. It is an avenue to help you differentiate negative feelings from positive feelings. Also, it enables you to control your emotions and become more self-aware. If you want to understand yourself clearly, get out of your head and put all those clumsy and routeless thoughts into writing.
Meditation
Meditation takes you away from the noise in the world and gets you in touch with your inner self. It helps you relieve stress and focus on the essential things in your life. By getting acquainted with yourself, you control how things affect you.
Significantly, meditation clarifies some of the confusing things in your life. At least 5 minutes of meditation is enough to zone out of the problems of the world and concentrate on your inner peace.
Be open to new challenges
It's not just enough to know your personality, but you also have to put it into use. One way to explore your character is to make yourself available to new ideas and experiences. New challenges help you discover new capabilities you may not have been aware of. Openness, one of the Big Five traits, places you in a position of healthy growth, self-development, and knowledge.
Learn a new skill
Have you been admiring blogging for a long time but haven't taken any step towards it. Or maybe coding appears to be fun, but you don't have the gut to start. Well, now is the time to do that.
Whatever activity makes you feel alive as a person, don't hesitate to try them. What could you possibly lose if you tried it?
Have conversations with people
Another great way to understand yourself is through the lens of others. While this may not always be accurate, people's observations can give you information about your personality. So, start by asking your family members, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances about your behaviours in various situations.
Try not to feel bad as you hear their assessment. Instead, focus on identifying a particular pattern in each person's observation. After that, you can make necessary changes or improvements to be a better person.
Embrace your mistakes
It's possible to look back and feel ashamed for some of your actions but don't. There is no point in dwelling on the past as it only sabotages you. You have to accept that you are human and fallible. So, see your mistakes as moments of learning and focus on making your present and future better.
Be vulnerable
Show the world your personality, even if they may disagree. You must learn that people will judge you regardless of who you are. However, you find more joy and peace in embracing yourself. Besides, it helps you connect to people like you - a way to foster meaningful relationships.
Conclusion
Figuring out your personality can be hard-won, but it doesn't have to be. That's why we have highlighted some of the proven ways to get a clear view of yourself. It is vital not to get overwhelmed in self-discovery by trying out many things. However, ensure you do something a day towards self-awareness and self-understanding. Understanding yourself helps you positively influence your life and make informed decisions.
Want to know more about Big 5? Why not take our expanded Big 5 Personality Test 👈