Introspection And The Power Of Becoming Self-Aware – Lesson 8 – How Your Past Helped Shape Your Present

The Variety Of Versions Of You

Welcome to Lesson 8 in my Introspection And The Power Of Becoming Self-Aware course!

Are you familiar with the idea that every day is a school day?

The idea is simple – if you haven’t learned something new today then you’re not living right.

Every day is a fresh opportunity to learn something new because you can only know what you know thus far, and it’s nowhere near everything there is to know.

More specifically, what if we turn the tables and tell you that you shouldn’t just learn just any old thing daily (well, you should, but additionally), you should aim to learn something new about yourself daily.

Your identity is an amalgam of a variety of yous. The you from just yesterday is not the same you as you are today.

And of course, the you of one month or four years ago is nowhere near the person you are today – because you change constantly.

The shifts can be so small from day to day that you don’t even realize it’s happening, but slowly and surely you are growing.

You’re definitely a little older, but are you a tad wiser? Or are you different outside?

Sure, you might know that you’re changing little by little every day, but you likely do not realize just how much or exactly in which ways.

If you think of yourself at the start of your life versus this point, then it’s easy to explain how different you are.

Not only can you talk and walk, but you can hold a conversation and you have built a life for yourself.

The point is that we like to think of ourselves as a single being, but it would be more accurate to describe ourselves as many different beings over the course of our lifetime.

Yes, your mind is the same and so is your body. However, the rest of you has been shaped, molded by the experiences you have lived.

Your passions have changed. Your desires have evolved. Even the knowledge you have learned has changed because as your experiences change you, they also change how you view the information you already know.

For example, if you have always had great interactions with a person, somebody you call a friend, you will hold them in high esteem.

So, when your friend faces serious accusations, your immediate reaction is denial – you want to defend them and support them, but the accusations carry weight and there is evidence.

On the other hand, if those same accusations were levied against somebody you have had bad experiences with, it’s much easier to believe they are accurate.

In this situation, your experience influences how you respond to this situation.

But whichever side you’re on, a year from now you might view the situation entirely differently – especially once it’s played out.

So you can either nod that you were right all along, or be aghast at how wrong you were.

Introspection To Explore Your Past Selves

Think of introspection as a form of spring cleaning – by sifting through old memories and experiences, you get a clearer sense of where you are, who you are, and who you would like to be in the future.

Introspection helps you remain accountable and encourages you to take responsibility.

In an ideal world, you would walk to a bookshelf and select a journal from a specific chapter in your life, because that would make introspection and self-reflection much easier.

Simply thumbing through those pages would be enough to highlight patterns and information about you that you either had yet to recognize or that you’d forgotten about entirely.

But if you haven’t been a keen journaler your entire life, then you’re going to have to do this the painstaking way, like most of us do.

Humans tend to resist introspection and self-reflection because nobody wants to be reminded of all the mistakes they have made. Nobody needs a reminder of all their regrets.

It’s not easy to look back on your past to dig in, but once you do practise introspection, you will feel different.

Why?

Sorry - The Rest Of This Article Is Only For Self Help Nirvana Members

JOIN FREE FOR 7 DAYS

Self Help Nirvana is an online community for everybody whose goal is personal improvement and development. Become a Self Help Nirvana member today and get access to everything here at SelfHelpNirvana.com!

Already a member? Sign in.