How to understand yourself and why this process will never end

Ask yourself: why is your life the way it is? Without judgments and other emotional additives. You know precisely what tomorrow, next week, and next month will be like. Maybe you’re satisfied with everything or, on the contrary, you want something completely different, but what brought you here? It was a long series of events, and many decisions were made or missed opportunities.

Once at an intersection, you choose a direction based on several factors. It is impossible to deny the existence of social and cultural influence. There are prestigious professions, worthy goals, and fashionable dreams. Conform, and then you will become a normal person. In any case, in the understanding of others. However, self-perception plays an equally important role.

You are already striving to become who you see yourself as. The main problem is that many people do not see anything, wandering in the dark. To understand yourself and not lose your way, you must engage in introspection and self-control. However, it is at this stage that the first fundamental contradictions arise.

4 ways to understand yourself

1. Self-control

The philosophical concept of self-control has evolved over the centuries, and today, we have two radically opposite concepts. When Plato talked about the good life, he considered lofty matters like justice, wisdom, moderation, and other virtues. However, according to the ancient Greek philosopher, no one becomes a good person by chance. Moreover, all the knowledge and money in the world do not guarantee happiness. The latter is achieved through the satisfaction of desires.

Thus, according to Plato, self-control means you must subordinate actions to your thoughts. Whether you buy a new Steam game or travel worldwide, your life will be good if you satisfy your desires. The desire must be genuine, bursting from the inside. There is also an opposite concept. For example, Rene Descartes described self-control as a human will. According to the French philosopher, a sufficiently strong will prevails over everything else — spiritual and material.

This more modern definition of self-control may be closer to us. Descartes proposed controlling thoughts and desires—in this case, the motive to commit bad or wrong actions disappears. Rene Descartes considered a person’s inner self separate from the physical body. The problem is that the average person is not such a spiritual being. After a week of work, denying your minor weaknesses is pretty tricky. Psychologists consider such control unsafe at all.

2. Introspection

In ancient Greece, this was called self-exploration. It was understood that every person has a specific purpose, and the most important thing is not to stray from the course, no matter how bad or good he is. We are not talking about fatalism, and any fate can be mitigated. However, the overall outcome is a foregone conclusion because no matter what happens, you have no reason to worry and grieve.

It’s not going to get any worse than it’s meant to. Gradually, the concept and methods of introspection developed. Thus, Aurelius Augustine, one of the first Christian clergymen, suggested that people seek God within themselves. Visit. A F R I N I K . C O M . For the full article. It was there, in the inner world, that questions should be asked, answers sought, and solace sought. Such an idea did not cause much emotion but was a revolutionary approach for the fifth century.

Today, introspection is considered from the standpoint of philosophy and psychology. This is the only way to understand your motives and assess how much better or worse you are getting. Western or European culture suggests that self-analysis should be followed by self-knowledge. This process should already have a material manifestation through self-expression.

Art and sports are best suited for this. However, some people express themselves through science, volunteerism, public organizations, etc. The modern European interpretation is that introspection does not make sense without changes manifesting in the physical world.

3. Contradictions in norms

Introspection and self-control can come into mutual conflict. How clean should a house be? Should I clean once a week, fanatically wash every speck of dust while maintaining complete sterility, or can I arrange a landfill? Self-control may require one thing, but the details found after introspection speak about something else entirely. Norms for many areas of life change periodically and depend on external factors. Let’s say you’re not embarrassed by the creative mess in the room and unwashed dishes in the kitchen.

However, knowing there will be a reception, you will likely start cleaning. This action can be both an act of self-control and a loss of self-control. It all depends on the results of self-analysis, which can be confirmed or discounted by just one action necessary in a particular situation. Try to transfer the example of cleaning the house to something more global and multifaceted. More or less often, self-control conflicts with introspection. As a result of an internal dispute, it becomes unclear what exactly makes you who you are.

4. An endless process

By engaging in introspection and setting standards for self-control, you can avoid the main mistake. It consists of waiting for the ultimate settings that allow you to automate the processes thoroughly. Later, you should retake control without irritation from unfulfilled expectations when something breaks. Just a few days after the most thorough cleaning, dust accumulates on the shelves again, and unwashed dishes and scattered things appear.

It is impossible to clean the house once and for all. The same thing happens to your inner world. While doing something or contacting other people, you will pick up something and bring it home. These will be thoughts, desires, ideas, goals, interests, emotions, and feelings. Some purchases will be helpful; others will be just lovely gifts, but there will be a lot of garbage. You’ll have to do the cleaning again occasionally, and there’s no escaping it. Of course, if you don’t want to lose a lot of control over your own life.