Table of Contents
Progress in every dimension of personal and professional life starts with the knowledge of oneself. Books are an excellent source to know yourself, to know more about the human brain, human behavior and to understand your surroundings better. To know yourself is to know the world. It is like that. You go through so many phases personally that when you start to comprehend yourself better you become better at understanding the sufferings and excitements of the world. Self-knowledge enlightens the soul when you start to understand yourself you start to explore yourself too. It is like meeting yourself after eons. Ask yourself when was the last time you were you and not someone else? You constantly try to influence others, become the focal point of a gathering or something but does that make you satisfied from the Inside? How in the world would it be when you are acting like someone else? More than act, accept yourself. Accept who you are, know yourself, and appreciate the beauty of things as they are not as they should be to be accepted by others. To make this philosophy of please yourself and not others more clear, you should read more books. Books are filled with experiences, inferences, and lessons. They are the best teachers, mentors, and guides. The beauty of books lies in their simplicity, they are amazing listeners and really good speakers. They don’t judge you, they don’t keep any presumptions of you, they welcome you, just as you are, they don’t keep any expectations. Books are just amazing!
Books that will help you to know yourself better:
- The monk who sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma: A fable on how to live a fulfilling life. It talks about how the daily worries of life drag us into a loop of disparity and despair. We cut off from the things that make us happy and satisfying, to earn money. In the due course of time, we detach ourselves from the pleasures that satisfy our soul. We become superficial and society-driven that we forget the reason why we came to work in the first place? You might have noticed too when you foolishly run behind something, you either never get what you were looking for, or you stumble upon a stone and fall hard. So, why chase the superficiality when you have a storm brewing inside? Why not face it? The book will help you to rediscover the purpose of life and focus on yourself.
- The four agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz: A fantastic book that reveals how your beliefs have been limiting you from pursuing a happy and joyous life. The thoughts, presumptions, beliefs rob us of the joy we can have. Social norms have always been domesticating us. We are not free if we take them seriously. You should become aware of what you are stepping into and enlighten yourself with mindfulness. Awareness brings forgiveness, forgive yourself to have wasted much time and give yourself another chance. Forgiveness will lead you to take action, the strength will be provided to you to take action and make the best use of the available chance. The four agreements talk about the four promises you need to make to yourself and transform your life completely.
- Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday: It has many tales that talk about how we let our ego run amuck and still don’t achieve anything in life. Why not stick to decency and be content with ourselves? Why not achieve something to please others? What not to focus on being our friends rather than enemies? Ego destroys judgments, senses and you especially. Why do anything under an egotistical spell? Embrace your thoughts for they are yours. They make you unique, not some well-defined pursuits and visions of others.
These four books will help you to come closer to yourself, whom you left far away in a distant land because society didn’t accept it. It is your journey, it is your path, make it yours or hop onto someone else’s, the choice is yours.
FAQs
I've read all four books, some more suggestions, please?
Read The Alchemist, Power of Now, The Rudest book ever, Mindset. They have amazing insights to understand the thought process of the human mind, and how we can become better at understanding ourselves. Once you get the lessons, apply them in your life and see the magic for yourself.
Does self-awareness enhance self-knowledge?
Yes. The two terms are often used synonymously, but they have a hairline difference. When you're aware of your activities, of your habits, you are more likely to work on them, you know the instant before you perform a task. When you know yourself, you know what choice you are most likely to make. The apt knowledge of the choice and knowing that an instant before making it, enhances your entire thought process. Self-knowledge and self-awareness are complementary to each other. One is incomplete without the other.
Why do we take other people's opinions seriously
That is because we are trained to ease others, right from the very beginning. For example, show your report card to your uncle and let him know how well you've performed, let him know of your intelligence. The praises were confidence boosters but praise to appease others and not yourself is of no use. You should be content with your performance. That's what matters, and that is exactly what should matter!
