How to study and master yourself as a person

Often in life we just go through things without much reflection to understand who we are. Win big at certain tasks, get fired at work, make a lot of money, lose your family, get drunk, excel at certain things exceptionally without much effort, fail miserably at others with a lot of effort, approach certain things with caution, others without caution etc In all things we never take the time to answer the questions “Who am I?” This takes a lot of introspection and life experiences but I feel like I really need this.

For example, I am an Actuary and qualified and passed the exams very fast at 25. Did the 4 year Actuarial degree in 3 years, right now I am starting a company to list on an exchange the biggest IPO, so it says I have a lot of courage. My point is how can I use knowledge about myself (my strengths and weaknesses) to make sure I make the most out of my future and make the right decisions by capitalizing on strengths and improving on weaknesses.

Observe my relations with people over time? Any remedies or suggestions, keep a note book, right down what?

I had a friend who spent a year at Oxford (MBA class) who came out cherishing the experience for having given him an ability to understand himself better, through the tasks he encountered and the people he met. He recalled an army officer from his class who had very exceptional strategy skills. I am looking for something similar.

How does one get to know who they are and their purpose for being on earth so we can optimize our stay here?

 

Cut and paste from the OP, wtf... don't make my stiffen up my MS throwing arm.

That being said, I'll bite. Think of strengths/weaknesses as the count at a blackjack table. Your strengths represent a positive count; your weaknesses, a negative count. Similarly how when the deck is strongly in your favor, you bet big(ger), you should attempt to place yourself in situations where your strengths are most utilized/most applicable. Areas in which you are weak should be avoided, like how in a poor deck count, you bet less.

The beauty of self awareness (as opposed to card counting) is unlike a crappy count, you have some control over your weaknesses. Since you're self aware enough to recognize/admit that you have weaknesses, you can work to lessen them, or eliminate them altogether.

Also, having weaknesses won't get you thrown out of the casino and have the living shit kicked out of you like card counting.

And I know this is an online forum, not correspondence to a CEO/MD, but clearly syntax/grammar are not areas where you should be doubling down just yet. Table minimum for you, guy.

 
Best Response

There are no "right" decisions and your life doesn't have a purpose, much less an objectively optimal path.

Do things that make you happy and do things that make those you care about happy.

Masturbating over your definition of self doesn't really accomplish anything, but hey, if it makes you happy, go for it.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Read some books on stoicism or ones with neat perspectives- GEB is a personal favorite. Eventually a perspective will catch on, a whole new way of seeing the world. Just go through life contemplating what new patterns arise and do some forecasting, see if your model of the world holds up.

I always found that I never really had strong opinions, it's fun to do some research then argue the different sides with different people. Some things will seem more likely to you, just dive deeper on those things and figure out why you have those certain biases, and whether or not they're productive for you.

Or you can take the shortcut and drop acid...

In the end though, unless there's some advantageous quirk in your brain from past experiences, you're gonna get nihilistic and depressed and it's really not worth going down the rabbit hole unless you're super bored. Most of the MBA types never actually viscerally feel the desire for a purpose in life, the anxiety that propels them to achieve "greatness" as defined by their authority figures is easily satisfied by meeting with someone who is good at strategy, and their competitiveness kicks back in...

So in the end, focus on discovering what you want to achieve before you optimize too much. "Premature optimization is the root of all evil." This will make progress tracking a hell of a lot easier, which makes managing it possible.

 
Tedypendah:
Often in life we just go through things without much reflection to understand who we are. Win big at certain tasks, get fired at work, make a lot of money, lose your family, get drunk, excel at certain things exceptionally without much effort, fail miserably at others with a lot of effort, approach certain things with caution, others without caution

You got the order wrong. Life goes more along the lines of:

Excel at certain things exceptionally without much effort --> Win big at certain tasks --> make a lot of money --> get drunk --> get fired at work --> lose your family --> fail miserably at others with a lot of effort --> approach certain things with caution, others without caution

 

You passed all ~10 actuarial exams by 25? Or you just received your ASA at 25? Also what is your company focused on? What are your interests in and outside of work? How do you approach teamwork / group projects? Do you find yourself to be the leader of a project, or the main executor of tasks? (Not mutually exclusive, but often tend to be in work environments and more so as you climb the corporate ladder)

...
 

Not a robust list, but good points to consider when framing your mind:

1.) Surround yourself with like minded people who inspire you, strengthen you, improve you weaknesses and or your resolve.

2.) Do something that frightens you every day in order to strengthen your mind and ability to overcome fear

3.) Take time to reflect back on past experiences (declutter your mind) and apply those past lessons to experiences occurring today.

4.) Life is not about figuring yourself out all at once, life is a journey and every experience you have will shape you / change you. Embrace those changes and adapt accordingly.

5.) Keep a "Growth Mindset," by that I mean, what you're not good at today does not mean you will never gain mastery. Each day you become more knowledgable, better at, and closer to reaching your goals.

6.) Never Give Up, especially on yourself; (self-belief is #1, without it nothing is possible).

"A man can convince anyone he's somebody else, but never himself."
 

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