Self knowledge and self honesty.
The two most important foundations for long-term success in anything. And a lot harder than they sound.
Self knowledge means figuring out who you really are, what really motivates you, what you excel at, what you suck at.
Self honesty means not lying to yourself about what you discover.
We have stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. These are necessary. We need to fit into a narrative. And they don’t have to be merely descriptive – they can be aspirational as well.
But they can’t be false. They have to be true, either currently, or in line with a possible trajectory. They can’t be contrary to who you are and what you want.
It’s hard enough to know ourselves. But harder still, if what we find is something not like what we wish or imagine, or what others approve of, is to be honest about it.
Self honesty doesn’t mean accepting or being OK with failings or shortcomings, it means being real about them and deciding what you want to do about it. Even if the answer is “nothing”.
A scoundrel who’s honest about being a scoundrel is preferable to a saint who is secretly a scoundrel.
The process of self-knowledge and self-honesty never ends, because we always change.
Keep at it.