Self-knowledge: The best way to uncover your true persona and why it issues

With regards to understanding your self, your individual notion of your persona doesn’t essentially align with that of individuals round you. However which is extra correct? And may discovering your true nature result in a greater life?

By Daniel Cossins

EVER puzzled what different individuals consider you – I imply, what they actually consider you? I think about myself respectable firm, as an illustration, even when I do know I get a bit vociferous after a number of pints of bitter. I wish to suppose I’m open-minded and thoughtful, too, although I recognise I might be dismissive at occasions. However recently, notably the morning after a number of of these pints, I’ve turn into inquisitive about how different individuals see me.

Let’s be trustworthy: generally I’m wondering if individuals suppose I’m extra obnoxious than I realise. As a result of presumably you wouldn’t know. That’s partly the place the intrigue lies for me. How precisely can we see ourselves? And who’s the true you anyway – the particular person you suppose you’re, or the particular person different individuals see?

It isn’t that I’m self-obsessed, you perceive. I’m simply intrigued concerning the extent to which the best way individuals see my persona tallies with the best way I view myself. In the end, I wonder if being extra conscious of those shadowy hinterlands of self-knowledge may make life higher – not just for me, however for individuals who spend time with me. Did I say I wasn’t self-obsessed?

Seeking solutions, I did what top individuals are likely to keep away from: I solicited trustworthy insights into my nature from a dozen mates, members of the family and colleagues. I requested them to fill out a 60-point questionnaire designed by psychologists to evaluate persona, and to provide the 2 traits they most affiliate with me – one optimistic and one unfavorable. Then I waited nervously for the scales to fall from my eyes.

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