Knowing Yourself: Tips and Questions Worth Pondering

Where do my thoughts come from?

Why do I feel certain ways about people?

When did I form that opinion?

Why do I prefer one thing over another?

Why am I here?

These are a few of the serious questions we ask ourselves as we go through life. If you are seeking answers to these questions—about how you view the world and your place in it—you must first realize that the answers to understanding your core beliefs have been shaped by a lifetime of your unique experiences.

Each of us has our own set of life experiences that shape how we see the world—our likes and dislikes, our prejudices, our spiritual beliefs, our ethical and moral values. It began with our childhood experiences. What was our physical environment? Who were the people we were around? What were their values? What were we told about how the world works? Whatever these circumstances were in our early world environments, they set a foundation for what followed in our life.

You Grow as Your Knowledge and Experience Expands

As you grew older and your contact with the world expanded, you were inundated with new and different experiences, cultures, and attitudes. Your knowledge of the world beyond your younger bubble grew. This is when you began to make choices based on your core beliefs. The answers you had to the questions posed at the outset of this article began to be asked. You started to evaluate what you were told about the way the world works. Such introspection could bring on a sense of enlightenment, or maybe a sense of guilt, as you questioned what the adults in your childhood told you. But, based on your new experiences, will you stick to your old belief systems or adapt as you gain more insight and understanding?

A saying that guides me is, “We create the environment that controls us.” Do you stick with what you have always believed? Or, do you modify your beliefs based on new experiences you are having? Here are five tips to consider when presented with choices about what to believe:

Change is Healthy

Realize that deviating from the status quo can be painful, but sometimes it is necessary to grow and thrive as a human being. Staying in a miserable job because it is a known environment may seem better than risking change. Know this about yourself and choose to make a change, even if it seems scary at the time.

You can read the full article on the Ms. Career Girl website.

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Bill’s book, Breadcrumbs: Finding a Philosophy of Life, is available on Amazon. Read excerpts from the book here.