7 Signs To Know Yourself Better

Knowing yourself is perhaps the most arduous task and also one of the most important that you have to undertake. Some signs show whether you have succeeded to some extent, or not. We could say that nobody succeeds completely, since the process is highly subjective. You are both the subject who knows, and the object to know. This makes it very difficult to achieve.

Accepting and valuing yourself is one of the signs that you know yourself. At the same time, only those who accept and value themselves can live in a way that is satisfactory to them. Hence, that self-knowledge is so important, since it largely depends on how you act and the goals you achieve.

What makes this process of knowing oneself difficult is education and environment. Each person is interpreted by those around them, from the moment of birth and inevitably. In other words, others give meaning to who you are and what you do, from the moment you begin to live.

Not always, or rather almost never, that interpretation is correct. It has more to do with the interpreters than with yourself. So the process of getting to know yourself begins with becoming independent of those visions. How do you know if you know yourself or you don’t know yourself yet? Here are some signs that indicate it.

Seeking your truth in external factors, one of the signs

One of the signs that you do not know yourself is the tendency to look for answers, reasons or motives in some external factor. You do not believe that there is wisdom within you. You despise what is inside you and that is why you give validity to those elements that are outside of you.

Perhaps you have not realized that when it comes to your feelings, your emotions and the destiny of your life there are no possible answers outside of you. And if there are, they are always partial and possibly wrong. Nothing and no one has the right to tell you what to do or how you should feel. The answer to all that is always in yourself.

You compare yourself with others

Comparing yourself to others is the wrong way to answer the questions about who you are and what you are capable of. It is false that if so and so could, then you can too. Or the opposite. It is also false that if many are going in a certain direction, that is the correct path.

By comparing yourself to others you are falling into a trap. Does it seem reasonable to you to compare the color yellow with blue? Is it valid for you to make a parallel between water and land? Comparison, particularly when neurotic, only leads to frustration or false self-love.

You regret saying “yes” or saying “no”

It is one of the typical signs of a lack of self-knowledge. You maintain a certain doubt in front of all the decisions that you face. It does not matter if they refer to large or small aspects, you always doubt it. And many times you end up opting for something you really didn’t want.

You say “yes” or “no” because you feel pressured by circumstances or by someone. You say “no” for fear of being too daring, or you say “yes” because the power of the majority is imposed. You do not consult with your heart, your mind or your experience before committing to a “yes” or a “no”. And you end up regretting it.

You seek approval from power figures

Power figures hold a great fascination for those who do not know themselves. This is an unmistakable sign. In reality, the quality of these power figures is not evaluated, but importance is given to them and their approval is sought regardless of the values ​​they represent.

Approval by a power figure compensates for the feeling of uncertainty caused by not knowing yourself. It is a way of substituting the bond with one’s own self for another with an outside agent with enough force to dilute personal insecurities.

You are deeply affected by criticism or ridicule from others

As no own criteria have been developed to evaluate personal actions, an excessive value is placed on the opinion of others. If that opinion is approving, there is serenity. If that opinion is censorious or disapproving, the world falls apart.

Relying on the opinion of others is a sure way to progressively distort the image you have of yourself. Of course, we all want others to accept us and think well of us. But this cannot be achieved at the cost of sacrificing identity. If not, it becomes slavery.

If you make a mistake, you want to die

When you don’t know yourself, you tend to judge yourself with great severity. Knowing is understanding. And when it is understood, the judgments are relativized. Not only are the results looked at, but the processes, causes and consequences are also observed.

Understanding prompts kinder reasoning. If you make a mistake, you can forgive yourself more easily because you understand that it is part of a learning process. If you don’t know yourself, you take a mistake as a threat. You fear canceling yourself and disappearing.

You react impulsively to conflict

Those who know themselves are not attracted to conflict. You know that your emotional energies are limited and that you cannot afford to spend them on unnecessary exercises. The opposite happens to those who do not know themselves: they look for conflict as a means to reaffirm themselves. Of course, he never looks for large-scale conflicts, but for trifles.

One of the signs that indicates a good degree of self-awareness is self-control. If you know yourself, you know how to manage your emotions and you rarely get carried away by immediate impulse. Otherwise, you react like a spring in even trivial situations, because you feel that almost everything puts you at risk.

Self-knowledge is a lifelong task, but any effort in that regard is worth it. And it is worth it because it allows you to achieve a greater degree of consciousness, independence, freedom and security. Do not deny yourself the opportunity to navigate between the enigmas and wonders of the most important person: yourself.

Images courtesy of Yuschav Arly