Self-knowledge: definition and 8 tips to improve it

April 24, 2024

When we ask ourselves "who am I?" And we are not clear about it, it is relatively frequent to feel a discomfort linked to uncertainty and to the feeling that our lives do not have a backbone. In these cases we can be immersed in an existential crisis, because knowing oneself is a way of being realistic, a way of having your feet on the ground , to know where we want to go and to connect with ourselves.

Self-knowledge is one of the keys to personal development and, at the same time, it is one of the basic principles to regulate emotions, relate to others and fight for our goals.

In this article we will delve into this concept and review a series of tips to improve self-knowledge, that is, learn to know you better.

The relationship between self-knowledge and emotional well-being

Self-knowledge is key to the psychological well-being of people, since those that are best known they know what they want in life , not only in big projects but in the everyday things of life. And is that people who know each other well know how to better manage their emotions even in times of greatest difficulty. The world around them can be destabilized, but not their inner world.

In fact, one of the concepts of Psychology that has had the greatest impact in recent decades is Emotional Intelligence, and self-knowledge is the starting point to be able to become an emotionally intelligent person. Knowing one's own emotions and knowing what they mean to us is intimately related to self-reflection and mental health improvement.

Related article: "Personal Development: 5 reasons for self-reflection"

Finding oneself is the key to happiness

Self-knowledge is also key in personal development, because it helps us to set realistic goals and allows us to know where in our life trajectory we are. It helps us to plan because it also allows us to know the movements and the actions that we must do to get where we want. That's why personal development experts help their clients connect with themselves and discover what motivates them and what their desires are to enjoy greater happiness.

Self-knowledge is also key in the development of people, and is essential in some stages of life, because if we do not know who we are, confusion does not allow us to see the future clearly. Improving self-knowledge is the starting point to improve our general well-being.

Maybe you're interested: "How to control emotions, with 11 effective strategies"

Actions to improve self-knowledge

So, What can be done to improve self-knowledge? In the following lines I leave some tips so you can discover if you still do not know.

1. Write a diary

Writing a journal can help us to know ourselves. It's good because it makes us think about what we have done during the day, and it can help us understand how we have felt . But, also, if we reread what we are writing, you can give us feedback on how we are.

There is a type of diary called "emotional diary", which is intended precisely to improve the self-awareness of our emotions.

This type of diary consists of writing how we have felt throughout the day, that is, not only writing what has happened to us, but it is necessary to reflect on our feelings and emotions. To carry out, you can do it for 10 minutes just before going to bed . It is not a long time, and it can make you more emotionally aware.

2. Write down your virtues and your shortcomings

It might seem that we all know each other, but in reality, there are many people who have never reflecting on its virtues and shortcomings . In fact, there are people who go to a job interview and when the recruiter asks them to describe themselves or highlight their strengths or weaknesses they go blank.

To avoid this and to get to know you better, you can list your virtues and your shortcomings, because it will make you think about who you are and the qualities you possess. This can also be useful when looking for a job or deciding which courses you should study. On the other hand, keep in mind that there is no objective way to do this task well , only yours, so do not obsess: the best judge on this subject is yourself.

3. Write down your passions

When choosing a job or what you want to study, it is also interesting to know what your hobbies and passions are, that is, what activities or jobs make you feel "in flow" when you practice them.Knowing our passions can help us improve our self-motivation and our happiness.

4. Make the wheel of life

A well-known dynamic to improve self-knowledge is what is known as "the wheel of life". It is a technique of personal development that consists of making a circle and Choose 10 areas of your life that you want to change or improve . The wheel of life invites you to reflect on the different aspects that are part of your life: your friends, family, work, leisure, etc.

It also makes you reflect on your priorities, since once you have chosen the points of your life that you consider fundamental, you should assign them a number based on the order of preference for you. Then, you can begin to write the actions you will take to transform your life. This allows you to know your present but also to know what future you want.

Related article: "8 activities to work on emotions"

5. Ask someone for a description about you

Many times we think that we see ourselves as others see us and that is not always the case. Sometimes, others see us differently and may shock us. Therefore, to improve our self-knowledge, we can ask our friends to describe how they see us. So we can make us a more realistic image of what we project .

6. Attend an Emotional Intelligence workshop

Emotional Intelligence, as I have said, is one of the most important paradigms of psychology in recent times, and the management of emotions is important not only for the mental hygiene of people, but also to intervene on performance and success in life.

That is why, to improve self-knowledge, a good idea is to attend an Emotional Intelligence course or workshop that provides you with a series of tools to get to know you better and relate better to your own emotions.

There are many Emotional Intelligence workshops. You can find some in this article: "The 6 best courses of Emotional Intelligence and Personal Development".

7. Practice Mindfulness

Another practice that improves emotional management is Mindfulness or Mindfulness, which consists of improve self-awareness and attention capacity and allows learning to be in the present with a non-judgmental mentality, acceptance, compassion and openness to experience.

Scientific research confirms that this practice improves self-knowledge as we have in this article: "Mindfulness: 8 benefits of mindfulness"

8. Opt for coaching

Coaching has also shown to be effective in improving self-knowledge, better planning the goals we want to pursue and empowering ourselves in front of life, with a more realistic and adaptive vision . Therefore, to improve self-knowledge, it is possible to hire the services of a psychologist specialized in this field to accompany you in the process of personal discovery. Like Mindfulness, coaching also has a series of benefits for binestar and personal growth.