Knowing yourself 3 keys to leveraging ancient wisdom

Knowing yourself 3 keys to leveraging ancient wisdomKnowing yourself 3 keys to leveraging ancient wisdomThe Oracle at Delphi said Know thyself. And that is deep and profound.Its also a pain in the ass because as with every cliche,the difficulty is in the execution and nobody ever bothers to tell you how to do it properly.I guess theyre too busy brainstorming newfortune cookie wisdomwhile we sit around thinking theyre smart for coming up with it and were dumb for not being able to follow through.Knowing yourself is the hardest thing in the world becausenobody lies to you about you mora than you do.We need answers. Good answers. Ones we can achieve simply - without a PhD, a wrench or elective surgery.What does knowing yourself really take?What knowing yourself meansIts amazing to me how muchreal insight about lifeis coming from business books and business schools these days.InManagement Challenges for the 21st Century, Pete Drucker, probablythe most influential thinker on the subject of management, says to be successful throughout your entire work life - one that will likely span numerous jobs, multiple industries and wholly different careers - it all comes down toknowing yourself.And knowing yourself, in terms of achieving what you want in life, meansknowing your strengths.But the reason I like Drucker is because he doesnt stop there or just bury you in self-help platitudes. He gives a definitionWhat are you good at that consistentlyproduces desired results?Its not necessarily what you enjoy or what a test says you have aptitude for, its the things you do that result in crossing the proverbial finish line.These are your strengths. Other research Ive posted shows theyre tightly tied tohappinessandfulfilling work.You need to know what your strengths are to make the right choices.Ignore weaknesses. ersatzdarsteller down on strengths.If youre one of those people who is skeptical about change, or who find it really hard, Drucker is for you.He doesnt believe we can overhaul who we are, turning introverts into extroverts and thinkers into feelers.He believes in doubling down on the areas where youre strong, bringing up the areas that get in the way of executing your strengths, and utterly ignoring the places where you show little aptitude.Theres no sense striving for mediocrity in multiple categories. Figure out what youre naturally good at and go all in.ViaManagement Challenges for the 21st Century do not try to change yourself - it is unlikely to be successful. But work, and hard, to improve the way you perform. And try not to do work of any kind in a way you do not perform or perform poorly.Its only by having a clear vision of your strengths that you can make good decisions.You know those people were all jealous of who can confidently pick something, say they are going to be awesome at it, and then calmly go andjust be awesome at it?This is their secretTheyre not good at everything but they know where their strengths lie and choose things that are a good fit.ViaManagement Challenges for the 21st Century(This) enables people to say to an opportunity, to an offer, to an assignment Yes, Ill do that. But this is the wayIshould be doing it. This is the way it should be structured. This is the way my relationships should be. These are the kind of results you should expect from me, and in this time frame, becausethis is who I am.How to do itDrucker calls it Feedback Analysis but I think thats way too formal and intimidating a term.From now on when you undertake projects, write down what you expect to happen, then later note the result.Yes, as Ive mentionedtime and again,notebooks are powerful. They are a shield against poor memories, rationalization and outright lying to yourself.Just as a great first step for networking is totrace back your relationships to the handful of superconnectors you know, looking at successful and unsuccessful projects will tell you what makes you achieve and fail.Review the results and think abou t 3 thingsWhat your strengths are.Under what conditions you perform well.What your values are.Knowing yourself helps everythingThat vague Oracle was right. Knowing yourself benefits your whole life.And while Druckers method is only focused on career, youd be smart to extend it to romantic relationships, happiness, friendships, etc.Happiness- Ive noted the things that make me happy over time. Ill schedule time to do them more often.Relationships- My good dates/great relationship moments all had these things in common so Ill make those things deliberate from now on.Friendships- All my close friends have these things in common. Ill use that to know who to spend time with.So whats the next step? Get thatnotebook.Then develop your strengths withCal Newports expert advice.Join over 320,000 readers.Get a free weekly update via emailhere.This article first appeared on Barking Up The Wrong Tree.