Archives: know yourself

Some people say it’s impossible to be truly happy with everything in your life. As the first noble truth of Buddhism tells us:

If you are alive, you will suffer.

While that may be true – and may make life sound unappealing – it’s also true that the best way to get closer to true happiness is to know yourself.

Not merely by identifying your wants, needs and ultimate goals, but to really dig deeply into yourself and understand what drives you, what de-motivates you and what causes you to go running for the hills.

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I picked up a voicemail from my dad last night around midnight. I figured it probably wasn’t a great idea to call him back right then, so I deleted the message. As I did, I thought to myself, “Now I’ve deleted that, I’m pretty sure I’ll have forgotten in the morning and fail to return the call.”

In accordance with the prophesy, my phone rang this afternoon and Dad’s name popped up on the screen. Luckily, it wasn’t anything too important1, but it reminded me how important knowing yourself is if you want to be truly productive.

I know I can be pretty forgetful, which means I should have made a note that Dad had called and wanted me to get back to him so I did it first thing this morning.

If you know and are aware of your little foibles and common mistakes, it makes it far easier to compensate for them. I’m all to aware of my forgetfulness and I take steps to deal with it2 to keep me on the ball and at my peak of productivity.

What are your little niggles that dampen your productivity? How do you work your way around them?

1. Did I want to go round and watch the game on Saturday? [↩]
2. such as making use of Evernote as widely as possible [↩]