One could reasonably conceive of much of the information needed to prosper in life lying in the experience of others who have lived some variation of what one might consider to be such a life.
It stands to reason that there is much insight to be gained from those who have seen and heard things which we ourselves have not, and there often is. But what if I told you that perhaps the individual whose brain you stand to most benefit from picking would, in fact, be your own?
The exercise itself is relatively simple, and it essentially boils down to one question; one word: Why?
Why are you feeling a certain feeling? Why do you want the things you want? Why do you feel that x, y, or z will bring you happiness? And when you answer, pose the same question in regard to that answer. Ask it again; and again; and again; until you get to the deepest root of your own motivations.
Because when you fail to properly understand your own motivations – and subsequently, yourself as a functioning person – those motivations may be corrupt, uninformed, lacking in context, or any other in a series of possibilities which could, and likely will, render a person unfulfilled and unsatisfied upon the fulfillment of aspirations based upon motivations which are not aligned with who you are as a person or what it is that you truly desire in life.
A common misconception is that we inherently know ourselves better than anyone. In truth, the knowing of oneself is a complex, lifelong excursion which requires a great deal of discipline and reckoning with horrifying, ugly truths about one’s own beliefs and personal history.
But the knowing of oneself, warts and all, is essential in the journey to accommodate and propel oneself to the height of their potential for success, happiness, and contentment in life.
Be honest with yourself, and base your conclusions on honest, objective assessments of your needs and responses. Because in giving yourself passes for cognitive distortions and ugly, harmful worldviews based on half-baked justifications rooted in willful ignorance, you’re kneecapping your own credibility and setting yourself up for indubitable failure.