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We all know Jeff Bezos as an American billionaire and founder of online retail giant Amazon. But did you know Bezos studied computers and worked on Wall Street before he hit upon the idea to set Amazon?
Similarly, Deepika Padukone is one of the country’s leading actresses today. But at one time she was a national-level badminton player following in the footsteps of her father Prakash Padukone, a famous badminton player.
Like Bezos and Padukone, not everyone continues on the career path they choose in school or college. Sometimes you need to try different things before finding the perfect job that makes you happy.
How To Know About Yourself
Knowing and understanding oneself is the key to making sound decisions about one's professional goals and growth.
One’s priorities, circumstances, and motivations for work can change with time. Many people leave nine-to-five jobs to pursue creative art. Many others take up full-time jobs after years of creative work.
You must be in touch with yourself as you grow and change so you can make good decisions. If you are not in tune with your inner self you may make wrong decisions that lead to frustration and unhappiness.
You can use many methods to get to know yourself. You can meditate, travel alone or read to get a peep into your inner self.
Five Tips To Know Yourself Better
Let’s look at five effective tips that will help you know yourself better:
- Self-assessment:
Have you ever contemplated the purpose of a job interview?
A job interview is a thorough assessment of an applicant's skills, knowledge, and personal attributes. Hiring managers assess applicants to decide whether they are fit for the job or not.
Don't wait for an interview for your dream job to assess yourself. Undertake an honest and objective self-assessment to evaluate your skills and abilities.
This will help you understand your thought processes, current circumstances, abilities, and areas of growth. A thorough assessment process integrates various aspects such as physical wellness, living environment, aptitude, and things that make you happy.
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Shift your perspective:
One of the best ways to know yourself is to see yourself from a distance.
Imagine you are a writer, and you have to create a character based on your real self. How would you shape that character? What abilities, powers and behavioral traits would the character display?
This exercise is likely to help you notice things about yourself that you hadn't realized before.
You can also think about how different people such as your friends, family members, and colleagues see you. What do they consider your strengths and weaknesses?
This will help you reduce your blind spots and get a clearer picture of yourself.
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Strengths and weaknesses analysis:
One of the most important ways of knowing oneself is to analyze one's strengths as well as one's weaknesses.
Some common strengths are determination, self-discipline, sincerity, and dedication to work, thoughtfulness, decision-making skill, patience, communication skills, and creativity.
Which of these do you possess, and which can you improve on?
On the other hand, being short-tempered, selfish, stubborn, unable to handle criticism, impatient, and judgmental are common weaknesses.
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Know your priorities:
If you are clueless about how to understand yourself, you start by figuring out your priorities.
One common question asked in interviews is: Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years?
Give it a thought. What kind of life and career do you want in five, 10, and 15 years? What is truly important for you?
Different people have different priorities. Some want to travel widely, others want to earn a large sum of money, and still others want to make a positive impact. All these factors will influence your career plans and choices.
You can also try comparing your priorities with those of the people you admire. This will help you see if you are on the right path.
Make sure you don't compare your journey with anyone else's. Everyone has a unique journey and they achieve their goals at different places. (Xanax)
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Habits and working style:
You may be surprised to know that our habits and ways of working are also great tools for self-assessment and self-discovery. To know yourself, just look at how you work and live your daily life.
Are you at your best in the early morning hours? Do you prefer to stay up late and work until well past midnight?
Are you enjoying the solitude of working from home during the pandemic? Or do you miss being in an office with your colleagues?
Do you procrastinate a lot or are you someone who likes to jump on to tasks and complete them well before the deadline?
Answering these and many other such questions can reveal your true self to you.
Conclusion
Knowing oneself is the first step towards gaining self-awareness. There is no one who can know you better than yourself.
Harappa Education’s aptly titled Interpreting Self course teaches you how to understand yourself better using various tools. Its River of Life exercise will help you reflect on your life-shaping experiences. You will also learn how to use the Johari Window tool to identify your blindspots.
Enroll in this online course to gain a deeper understanding of yourself. You can use this knowledge to improve your life and accomplish your dreams!
Explore topics such as Resilience, First Impression is the Last Impression, How to Handle Pressure at Work, Self Awareness, Self Management, and the Meaning of Charisma from our Harappa Diaries blog section and take charge of your growth.
