Don’t be a do person, be a be person. You are not a human doing, you are a human being.

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Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared with what lies within us.” Shakespeare counseled, “To thine own self be true.” Socrates advised, “Know thyself.”

Lasting success, fulfillment, and happiness depend on self-knowledge. There is no greater practical wisdom than knowledge of self.

Wise people know themselves and live from that knowledge. If I know that to be healthy and happy I need seven hours of sleep each night, and I sleep for only five, I am a fool. I am worse than the ignorant person who cannot connect his lack of sleep and his poor health and unhappiness. I possess the knowledge but do not use it.
A Japanese proverb speaks of the three most valuable possessions in this life. The third is the sword because it empowers you to defend yourself and those you love from intruders and tyrants. The second is the gem because it empowers you to buy and trade to satisfy your temporal needs. But the Japanese believe the most valuable possession is the mirror because it empowers you to know yourself.

Great men and women know themselves. They know their strengths, their weaknesses, their faults and failings, their flaws and defects, their talents and abilities, their needs and desires, their hopes and dreams, their potential and purpose. From these pieces of knowledge, they weave a life of beauty and splendor. “Know yourself” is a character principle of legends, heroes, champions, leaders, and saints.

Each day during your sacred hour, take the time to make a daily personal assessment. Ask yourself the difficult questions. Try to discover what makes you feel good about yourself and what makes you happy—not momentary pleasures, but the true pleasures of life, which taste better and better as each day passes. The things of this world compete for our allegiance. To be true to yourself, you must form an allegiance with the things of this world only inasmuch as they lead you toward your completion, fulfillment, and perfection—point B—to become the best version of yourself. Knowing one’s self is a constant and continual process. Observe yourself. Be aware. Watch yourself in the moments of the day. Listen to yourself. Notice how you act or react in certain situations. The fullness of life comes from knowing yourself—needs, desires, talents, strengths, weaknesses, limitations, and potential—and living from the wisdom of this knowledge.

A story that describes the secret of knowledge

When God was creating the universe, some of the angels were discussing where each of them felt God should hide the truth. One angel said, “I think God should
hide the truth at the very summit of the highest mountain.” The next proclaimed, “I think God should hide the truth at the very depths of the ocean.” Another said,
“No, I think God should hide the truth on the farthest star.” God overheard the angels and spoke up, saying, “I will hide the truth in none of these places. I will hide the truth in the very depths of every man and every woman’s heart. This way, those who search humbly and sincerely will find it very easily, and those who do not will have to search the whole universe before they do.”

Know thyself; know your strengths and weaknesses; your relation to the universe; your potentialities; your spiritual heritage; your aims and purposes; take stock of thyself.

—Socrates