Philosophers down the ages have encouraged people to 'know yourself'. But just what does it mean to know yourself?

To know yourself, you need calm

Knowing yourself isn't about 'loving yourself' regardless of what you are like or constantly berating your self either. To really being to know yourself you need to be calm. You need to sometimes be able to observe yourself in a detached way without the distortions of emotion.

There are many selves

Clearly, we are not wholly unified beings. When you observe yourself, you are many things. You have a social self, a work self, sometimes you are angry and sometimes happy... we all contain many parts.

When we begin to understand the workings of these parts then we can begin to have a sense of who we are.

Knowing yourself isn't a vague quest

So knowing yourself isn't some abstract navel gazing idea. It involves seeing yourself objectively, being honest with yourself about yourself and not using justifications or rationalizations to explain away your thoughts and behaviors as always automatically right. Knowing the truth about yourself means recognizing your own motivations for what they really are.

When someone we respect criticizes us in some way or just makes an observation that isn't flattering then we it may be easy to just reject that criticism out of hand, but when we are objective we can concede that they might just be right in what they say.

The Know Yourself audio session

Know Yourself will teach you about automatic associations, the importance of calm self observation and how to avoid false justifications and rationalizations when you consider your own motivations.

To know yourself you need to know a little bit about other people. Because in many ways you are the same as others. Understanding a little about psychology can help us to learn about our own motivations and emotions.

Download Know Yourself now and improve your ability to see yourself clearly.