“Know Thyself.” Two words written above the entrance at the temple of Apollo at Delphi. Two words that are seemingly simple and yet have been the quest of humans for millennia. What does it mean to “know thyself” and why does it matter?

We know our names, where we are from, what we do for a living and maybe even our astrological sun sign. We may know we prefer Mexican food to Japanese or that we prefer romantic comedies to horror films…and surely preference is a piece of self knowledge, but does it end there?

Moreover, we may have once considered our favorite color or book…but have we recently? Have we met ourselves again after decades of self being buried under the obligations, shoulds, people pleasing, and self sacrifice?

I believe preference is just the first step into getting to know ourselves. Absolutely honoring whether we want our eggs fried or scrambled is the beginning, but deeply knowing ourselves goes far beyond preference. If preference is the beginning of self knowledge, self inquiry is the next step in the unfolding. Inquiring within. Asking ourselves.

Knowing our wants and desires. 

Knowing our motivations. 

Knowing our strengths and weaknesses. 

Knowing our traumas and triggers. 

Knowing our healed pieces. 

Knowing where we came from and where we are going, our light, our shadow, our vision, our purpose, how our energy is best utilized…all pieces of self knowledge to consider. 

All part of self-discovery and a lifelong love affair with self and each piece that makes us uniquely ourselves.

Beyond preference and self inquiry, there are additional tools of self knowledge. A few of my favorites are:

Clifton Strength Finder- We all have natural strengths, talents and abilities. This 177 question finds and ranks 34 strengths and prioritzes them to the individual, focusing on the top 5. I once heard that its 1 in 33 million people who have the same top 5 strengths in the same order. Your natural core competency are unique to you. Moreover, understanding them allows you to lean into what you are already good at, instead of striving for small improvements in areas that dont come naturally.

Enneagram- I love the Enneagram to better understand individual motivation. Beyond ability, the enneagram focuses on what motivates us to make decisions. It focuses on our early childhood wounds that root within us shape our decisions to this day. I also love the enneagram because it teaches us where we show up in our light and growth minded selves and in stress as our shadow selves. 

It is all just how we choose to use the energetic motivation within us.

Human Design- Pulling from many esoteric traditions, Human Design allows us to better understand how our personal energy is best utilized, an energetic blueprint if you will. Are we aligning with our personal energy profile or are we pushing against it and showing up as we all “should” or have been cultured to do. 

Astrology- Of all the “know yourself” tools cited here, this is my favorite. A life blueprint that continually unfolds as we do, astrology can speak to our purpose, our values, and even our core wounding. It has been through my study of astrology that I’ve come to know myself the very most. And beyond the knowing, I've come to accept pieces of me that I long saw as flawed, but instead realized they are perhaps just a misunderstood feature.

Why does knowing yourself matter?

Self knowledge leads to self acceptance. Could it be that simple? As we understand ourselves, we accept who we are. This has been the case for me. The more I understand who I am and how I move through this world, the more I accept myself. And from a place of self acceptance we begin to develop self trust. 

When we accept who we are, we can then begin to trust ourselves and the decisions we make in life. Trust that we move through this messy, noisy world as we are meant to. We accept who we are and trust that we know what is best for us and will move accordingly.

And magically as we see the fruits of self trust we gain self confidence and self love.

And the cycle informs on itself and it begins again.

Doing all of this work for myself has also brought a level of detachment to outcome and self observation. Through the self knowledge, acceptance, trust and confidence I can now more easily witness when I am misusing my own energy and acting unhealthy. I can witness and say, “oh thats just an unhealed piece” or “oh there I go again, misusing the energy”

Its a 180 degree perspective shift. Based on the way I was raised, I viewed it as that was something “wrong” with me or “wrong” in me. I viewed it as a character flaw. A sin. Something in me that was inherently wrong that needed to be fixed or remedied.

Now I realize its simply a piece of me that needs realignment. I need to choose to use the energy in a healthy way, instead of a fearful and destructive way. 

The work of knowing myself has allowed me to soften into myself. To shift life long perspectives, to radically accept myself and bring self compassion to the table of my life. And just as life so often does, that self acceptance and self compassion then allows me to extend that softness to others.