The Knowledge Of Who You Are: Self Discovery
No matter the level of hunger that is in the jungle, there is a reason why you will not see the lion eating herbs like a goat; because of the knowledge that it is not a herbivore but a carnivore, and an apex predator at that. Similarly, there are things that one cannot find himself doing if he knows who he really is. You cannot effectively fulfil your purpose until you have discovered yourself. Everyone has their own unique abilities, strengths, and of course, weaknesses. So that someone is doing something in the pursuit of their own purpose does not mean that you should do it too. First discover if you are built for it.
No matter how you are motivated and no matter what a motivational speaker has told you, it will not replace your own need to discover yourself, so that you will know where and how to function. Take this instance: you cannot succeed in motivating the fish to fly out of the water like a bird, this is because it is built for the aquatic life, and swimming is its thing, not flying. However, for a bird, you do not even need to motivate it to fly because that is what it is naturally built for. You see, there is so much ease that comes to you when you discover your abilities and work in line with them.
Every human has a strong point - area of strength. In the same way, everyone also has that particular area that is their weakness. Without knowing what you are good at and what you are not good at, you will not know how to effectively maximise your true potentials. It will be unwise to follow someone to do something without even knowing if you are built for that. Someone's strength might be your weakness and vice verse, so if you follow them in their own path, you may not replicate the same results as they are doing and you may become frustrated.
I remember a humorous experience that happened some years back when I was in school. There was a particular course mate of mine that was so good at cracking jokes. Everything about him screamed "funny." During one of our award nights, he was asked to host the show because they knew he would make the audience laugh hard. As the setting of the event should be, he had to find a co-host that will also help him with the MC work. So there was a close friend that was so brilliant that he had been the one helping him with his school works, so because of sentiments, he picked him as his co-host but the guy was not even closely funny.
When the event started, the main host held the audience in fun and everyone was laughing as hard as their ribs could carry. When his own time elapsed, the co-host took over and it was like the vibes went into oblivion. The more he tried to crack jokes, the more the audience lost interest. At that point, I quickly realise that you cannot force comedy. Even though he was brilliant, comedy was not his thing and he realized that in a very hard way. The event ended with everyone feeling tired at his dry jokes. You see, because his friend was doing comedy does not also mean he will do well in it, but when it comes to solving complex equations, he will do that with a snap, which the other guy could not. So you see, everyone is different in their own unique ways.
One has to be able to look deep inwards to discover that particular thing that he loves doing, or that thing that he is passionate about, or that thing that he would still be doing even if there was no remuneration attached to it, or that one thing he does not have to practice for so long to get it right. All these might point you towards the discovery of yourself. Fastforward to now, that my friend that did comedy in school for fun is now one of the most celebrated professional comedians in the country now. While the other guy is now a well-placed engineer. You see, if the other guy had left engineering to pursue after comedy because his best friend was into it, he would have lost from both sides.
More often than not, the reason behind the struggles of many is because they want to become someone else without even knowing if they are built for it. Note this: you cannot run in someone else's track and become the winner. More so, you cannot copy someone and become original. You just need to discover who you are and work towards it to realise your full potentials.
Thanks for reading
One good thing we can do for ourselves is, realize our strengths as well as our weakness, the focus on our strengths will make it more convenient for us to achieve more success instead of falling into the trap of trial and error all the time.
Excellently said. We need to realise both our strengths and weaknesses, so as to be able to focus to consolidate on our strengths.
Thanks Bimbo
I second your post. I believe that a lot of people lost themselves by trying to become someone else.
That's right. We should focus on ourselves and not to become like someone else.
Thanks buddy
I appreciate your thoughts
Excellent lines of writing my friend, because if we are clear and we know our qualities and weaknesses, I am sure we will not focus on the true potential and we will move forward based on it.
Thank you for reminding me that the limits are only in our mind, may it be well....
Self discovery, is actually a very good thing we can do for ourselves as humans. The moment we realize and understand our potential, it becomes really possible for us to fall in line and align appropriately with purpose.