Self Knowledge and Goal Setting

I was giving a presentation recently on success, and we were talking about the importance of basing our goal setting in self knowledge. I explained that one philosopher had parsed self knowledge in an interesting way. He said, "Know your strengths. Know your weaknesses. Know your opportunities." And that's interesting, isn't it? Strengths and weaknesses are inner things. Opportunities are outer things. So how can knowing them, as external circumstances, be a part of self knowledge?

A situation that creates a great opportunity for one person will not provide the exact same thing for a different individual. Knowing what external situations are opportunities for you is a matter of self knowledge. But, how so?

Maybe we need to dig a little deeper. Maybe the imperative "Know Yourself" has a few more elements:

Know your strengths. Know your weaknesses. Know your limits.

Know your passions. Know your ideals.

Weaknesses are certainly limits, at least for now. But not all limits are weaknesses. Some limits are a result of our prior choices and commitments, and some are actually among our strengths. A robust and proper structure of commitments is a great thing to have. It empowers and it limits. And such limits will be very relevant to the goals we decide to set or adopt.

Knowing your passions is equally important. Some are strengths. Others are weaknesses. Some may be neither, in themselves, but developed can go either way. Passion is a source of drive and motivation. Setting goals outside of any concern for our passions is never a recipe for greatness.

And perhaps most important of all is knowing our ideals. We all have fantasies, desires, or passions that would not be right to pursue in a certain way or at a certain time. Our ideals are those values that should guide us in choosing. And they will help to determine what external situations do indeed provide opportunities for new goals and new successes.

All goal setting should be an ongoing exercise in self knowledge. And all these factors matter.

The Philosophical Selfie

In our Age of Selfies, the most important kind, not to be overlooked, is the philosophical selfie.

Inscribed in marble at the holiest spot in ancient Greece, the Oracle at Delphi, was the advice: Know Thyself. It's probably the most famous piece of advice ever given, it could be the shortest, and it might even be the hardest. But it's the central key to living well in the world, and becoming the people we're capable of being. It's hard to get where we need to go if we don't know where we are now. And self-knowledge is the starting point for any GPS of the Soul.

Consider your soul, the deep you. Pick one of the options in each of these questions, and say why:

Are you solid, liquid, or gas?

Are you animal, vegetable, or mineral?

Are you straight-lined or curved?

Are you still or moving?

Are you music, painting, sculpture, or lit?

Are you mountains or sea?

Are you heart or mind?

Are you a stormy day, a gentle rain, or a sunny blue sky?

Are you summer, fall, winter, or spring?

Are you forever young, or mature beyond your years?

I've given you these questions, silly on the surface, but deeper as you probe them, almost as an act of stream-of-consciousness on my own part. I could have come up with others. You can, too. But these will do to make my point.

Self-knowledge doesn't just grow like grass, or hair. It's not a naturally occurring phenomenon, or we wouldn't have to be encouraged to make it happen. It requires reflection, examination, contemplation, and that can all take forms that are both serious and silly - as long as you're genuinely trying to dig a bit deeper in your own self-awareness.

You may come up with your own questions, or you can play with these. What do they tell you about you? Any serious answers you arrive at can help with your journey now, and next.

Knowing yourself may not be the easiest thing in the world, but it could be the most productive.

So, take that selfie now.