Mark Twain famously said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
The difference between the two days is that one is out of your control (when you are born) but the other you can influence (finding out why). But the golden question is, “How do I find out why?”
Self-awareness is more of an art than a science. If anyone says they have a formula they are speaking fiction rather than fact.
Truth is, life is a constant stream of continuous learning, and your journey will never be the same as mine, so what worked for me may not work for you.
People believe this is a problem for young people, but it is not. It is a struggle we all face whatever the age. One of the most valuable things I have discovered is that every car I drive has an operating manual on how the car works. Like cars, we each have an operating manual, but we need to spend time with ourselves in order to learn more about who we are, what makes us tick, what we are great at and how we love to be useful.
Too many of us are too willing to help others, pour from an empty cup and prioritise time helping others instead of protecting time to discover more about ourselves. Proverbs 18:16 in the Bible states “Your gift will make room for you.” But what are you making room for your gift?
Just take a look at your calendar over the last 3 weeks and count how many hours you scheduled to spend time reflecting on your thoughts and future! My guess…… not much time.
If you read this newsletter and feel like you want to make room for your gift, I want you to take one massive action in the next two weeks.
Schedule just two hours for yourself in the next two weeks. Bear in mind there are 336 hours in the next two weeks; two hours represents less than 1% of the time available in the next two weeks.
In that time, here are a few questions you may find helpful to answer:
- What does your ideal day look like hour by hour?
- Looking back, what words do people use to describe you or give you feedback?
- What work makes you feel like you have lost track of time?
- If I could pay you £200K a year for the next 10 years to work, how would you be in service to others?
- What things bring you the most energy?
- What things drain your energy most?
- What do you believe you are great at?
- What would you love to get better at?
- Holding a mirror against yourself, what would your 21 year old self say about you today?
- What is your deepest dream or desire and what are your biggest blockers in getting there?
These are difficult questions to answer, and the answers will continue to evolve. Reflecting on these questions allows you to open up new pathways to self-awareness, which enables you to be curious about yourself and to start to be more conscious about your personal life story. It is an iterative process, and you will likely continuously keep revisiting these questions across several years as we evolve as people, and that is ok.
Surfacing this awareness allows you to tap into your gifts in all aspects of life with your relationships, your family and your work. You discover how to bring out the best of who you are, and you have a clearer understanding of who you are, what value you bring and what meaningful work means to you.