If you asked someone who is pretty significant in your life to describe you, what do you think they would say? Do you think you let them really know you, for them to be able to come up with an accurate description? How about if I asked you to describe yourself? Could you? What would you say? What would you focus on?

Human beings are so complex and multi-faceted. I think this task (of describing ourselves) can be quite difficult for a lot of us. Having said that, making a conscious effort to really get to know ourselves can open many positive doors to feelings and experiences we never dreamed of.

Here’s what I mean. I recently helped a colleague recognise their style of time management - yes, we have our own styles of managing use of time - and how they could use parts of this to their advantage; for example, become more organized and a better planner, as well as then change other aspects of their time management habits.

The most satisfying outcome from our conversations was the colleague’s relief that their time management skills were pretty normal and a reflection of their natural learning style and personality. By reducing the separation between the self (our personality, values, etc) and the tasks or concepts we come in contact with in our daily life, you can find a situation becomes less daunting or less difficult because you know why you behave or respond to that situation more clearly now.

Maybe that’s not the best example, but I want to focus on practical, everyday things that really don’t seem to have much obvious connection to our self-knowledge and the importance of knowing ourselves, but in actual fact do.

If you know why you find yourself rushing to complete a task or project when in reality you had at least four weeks say to complete this task, you can feel much calmer about this, because you know the task will get done. Your learning style dictates that you work best when under a time pressure. For others of us, completing a task step by step over the period of time available is what will work best. One isn’t better than the other - unless of course you experience a great deal of stress by leaving things to the last minute and would like to change this.

You see, I have accepted that my most productive time on a project or task occurs when I leave things to the last minute. I don’t do this with everything in my life, but quite often! Other people would panic and be in complete stress mode if they approached tasks this way, because it is not their style.

Get to know who you are, what your preferences are, how you tend to deal with people or approach problems. We are all different afterall, and knowing who we are can make a huge difference in our lives.

My Card Game “Positive Thinking” is a fantastic and fun way for you to get to know yourself and review your thinking about who you are and where you want to be in life. Read more about this fabulous product…….