"He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened." - Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching
"Know thyself" (Γνῶθι σεαυτόν, Gnōthi seautón) - the ancient Delphic maxim inscribed at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, Greece - stands as one of humanity's most enduring calls to introspection. Popularized by Socrates, it urges radical honesty about our thoughts, emotions, biases, and limitations, forming the bedrock of self-awareness.
Core Principles of Self-Awareness:
Self-awareness isn't monolithic; it's a spectrum from internal (knowing your emotions) to external (perceiving others' views of you). Psychologists Tasha Eurich and Daniel Goleman distill it into layers, backed by fMRI studies showing the brain's default mode network (DMN) lights up during self-referential thought. Here's a framework:
| Principle | Description | Key Thinkers/Insights | Practical Marker |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introspection | Turning inward to examine thoughts, motives, and patterns without judgment. | Socrates/Plato: Dialectic questioning. Modern: Mindfulness reduces DMN overactivity by 22%. | Journaling reveals recurring triggers (e.g., "Why do I procrastinate?"). |
| Metacognition | Thinking about your thinking—monitoring biases like confirmation bias. | Aristotle: Phronesis. Neuroscience: Prefrontal cortex integration. | Catching mid-conversation: "Am I assuming too much?" |
| Emotional Intelligence (EQ) | Recognizing and labeling emotions, then regulating them. | Goleman (1995): EQ > IQ for success. 2025 update: Wearables track vagal tone for real-time EQ. | Naming feelings: "I'm frustrated, not angry," diffuses reactivity. |
| Values Alignment | Auditing actions against core beliefs for authenticity. | Epictetus: Dichotomy of control. Rogers: Congruence therapy. | Life audit: "Does this job honor my value of creativity?" |
| External Feedback | Seeking 360° views to counter blind spots (Johari Window model). | Luft/Ingham (1955): Open area expands with input. | Anonymous peer reviews uncover "I talk over people." |
| Impermanence Awareness | Accepting the fluid self—growth through change, not stasis. | Buddhist anatta (no-self). Heraclitus: "No man steps in the same river twice." | Embracing failure: "This setback reveals my resilience limits." |
The Japanese have a belief in three great powers:
1. The Sword (weapons)
2. The Jewel (money)
3. The Mirror (self-awareness)
The most valuable of the three is the mirror, or knowing yourself. Without this knowledge of self you will have no direction in life and in your business.
To-Do List:
1. Stop what you’re doing. Take a step back to assess your situation. Stop doing what is not working and look for a new option.
2. Look for new ideas.
3. Take action. Find someone who has done what you want to do. Take them to lunch. Ask for tips.
4. Take classes and buy tapes.
5. Make lots of offers. Finding a good business deal is a lot like dating. You must go to the market and talk to a lot of people, make offers, counteroffers, negotiate, accept and reject. Many single people sit at home waiting for the phone to ring instead of going out and hitting the dating scene.
6. Take a walk through your neighborhood and look for bargain real estate deals.
7. Buy the pie and cut it into pieces. People buy only what they can afford so they think small. Think big. This goes for land and other investments.
8. Learn from history. Colonel Sanders lost everything in his 60’s and started from scratch with a fried chicken recipe. Bill Gates became rich before he was 30.
