"Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom."—Aristotle
The journey to greatness in any area of life begins with self-discovery. Until a person discovers or finds himself, he is, at best, lost in the world. Self-discovery is a non-negotiable factor in the journey to success in life.
This will make more sense to you when you realise that a person is relevant and useful to society only to the measure or level to which he knows and understands himself. Every truly successful person has gone through the process of self-discovery.
According to the Merriam-Webster English Dictionary, self-discovery is the act or process of gaining knowledge or understanding of your abilities, character, and feelings.
I define it as a discovery of your innate or natural abilities or potential, temperament, personality type, weaknesses, motivations, ambition, likes and dislikes, etc. It is one of the greatest discoveries any individual can ever make in life. It is the foundation upon which every other thing stands (humanly speaking). It is the fulcrum of destiny.
A Personal Responsibility
The amazing thing about self-discovery is that it is a non-transferable and indispensable responsibility. You can neither delegate nor ignore it. Doing any of those will not only be detrimental to your success but will also be tantamount to a great injustice to yourself.
Every successful person has, at one time or another, come to the point where he had to pause, sit down with himself and ask: Who exactly am I? It is an inescapable moment of deep introspection and self-examination.
It is a special meeting with self to ascertain and determine the true state of one's life. It is a solemn and sublime moment of truth. Every destiny must ride on the vehicle of a well-discovered and properly defined life.
The Value of Life
You must understand and vehemently acknowledge that life is a gift of trust and must, of necessity, be maximized. Life is too precious to be lived carelessly and nonchalantly.
This is why life beckons on everyone who desires to make an outstanding impact and positively influence society to invest intentionally in self-discovery.
Really, who are you? I mean, could you tell us who you are exactly? What is your identity? Is there anything special or unique about you? Or are you just an inconsequential part of the number?
Truly successful and great people are men and women who have paid the price and applied due diligence and discipline to discover themselves.
There was a great man in the Bible to whom even Jesus gave a testimony of his greatness. According to Jesus, he was the greatest of all men born of women. His name was John the Baptist.
Even this man became great by discovering himself. He had to find out who exactly he was. He had to find out what made him different—why he had to stand out.
Consequently, when he was confronted with the question of his identity, he boldly and unashamedly diffused all wrong, speculated, and inconsistent notions of his identity. He was neither afraid nor ashamed to be himself because he knew exactly who he was.
In Africa, when one comes of age to leave his parents to start an independent life, among other things, the elders will always instruct him never to forget who he is and where he came from. The reason for this is simple: a person is lost if he hasn't found or discovered himself.
The fact is that life truly begins after one has discovered himself. Success in life is a direct product of self-discovery. So, to be truly great, impactful, and influential, you must know yourself.
BENEFITS OF SELF-DISCOVERY
1. Confidence: Self-discovery gives you confidence. It adds spring to your steps. It makes you bold and unashamed. It gives you a firm grip on your life.
2. Self-Esteem: Knowing who you truly are boosts your self-esteem. It enhances your self-worth.
3. Identity: Just like I already stated, you start living the moment you discover yourself. Until you know yourself, you are merely existing. Self-discovery gives you an identity in the world. It is that feeling that you are SOMEBODY.
4: Acceptance: Until you know and accept who you are, people will not accept you. I mean, why should I care to know you when you don't even know yourself? And why should I accept you when you constantly live in denial of your true identity?
Knowing who you are gives you the opportunity to be accepted in society. This is because it is not so much about what happens to or around you as it is about what happens within you.