How well do you know yourself?

We spend a lot of time with ourselves, but how well do you really know yourself? I often think I know myself quite well until a new situation, reaction or feeling presents itself and stops me in my tracks. A good reminder of this is looking back to a younger version of yourself. When I was 25, I thought I knew myself inside out. Looking back now, I hadn’t really appreciated what this even meant. I knew myself on the surface, but didn’t understand what motivated me, what my needs were, what made me tick. I took all that for granted as ‘well, this is just who I am’.

Knowing ourselves is a constantly evolving process and a life-long challenge many of us share; trying to wrestle who we are verses who we think we should be. Do you know what you need to be your best self? Do you understand why you sometimes experience feelings of anger, frustration, sadness or joy? Do you know what brings you pure happiness, contentment and satisfaction? Can you sit with the discomfort of your emotions or do you distract yourself to ignore them? Do you want to do something but don’t understand why you can’t motivate yourself to commit?

The answers to these questions can be deep rooted within us. On the surface, you may sense the answer but does that help you to understand why? Does the surface answer help you accept those thoughts, feelings and emotions and allow you to feel at ease with yourself in all aspects of life?

This is my goal. I feel passionately that we would all thrive if we could confidently be our authentic selves. To do this though we need to work on ourselves, to understand and accept. How well do you know yourself?

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Gemma Brown is a certified coach who works with successful women, 1-2-1 and in groups, to identify their strengths and build confidence which enables them to have the self-belief to fearlessly bring their whole being into all areas of life. Gemma is based in Cambridgeshire and carries out face to face coaching in the area as well as 1-2-1 coaching via Skype and Zoom. For more about Gemma, visit her 'About' page or contact her directly.