Article/Thieves suddenly

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.

On the lintel of the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, Greece, there is a famous oracle inscribed: Man, know yourself! Such a simple sentence can still bring people rational vigilance and thinking after thousands of years of changes and changes in history.

There was a great thinker and educator in the history of ancient Greece. He took this motto as his motto throughout his life, and regarded self-understanding and self-discovery as the key to exploring and discovering the value of life. An important part of it was Socrates. In Socrates' view, to know yourself is to have your own independent thoughts, and to be able to clearly identify your abilities, preferences, strengths and weaknesses after carefully reflecting on yourself. Know what you are suitable for and what you are not suitable for; what your strengths and weaknesses are, so as to achieve self-awareness.

The ancient Chinese sages naturally did not know the existence of the motto on the ancient Greek temple, nor did they know the existence of Western philosophers and thinkers like Socrates. However, no matter how different the Eastern and Western cultures are, they have very similar views on self-understanding, and both advocate an objective and comprehensive understanding and evaluation of the self.

Anyone who is familiar with the Analects of Confucius knows that there is a record in the Analects of Confucius that I should examine myself three times a day. This sentence has long become an inspirational motto, encouraging generations of self-respecting and self-sustaining people to often reflect on themselves. Dig deep into your heart. Laozi also said in the Tao Te Ching: He who knows others is wise, and he who knows himself is wise. It explains the truth: People who can deeply understand other people's thoughts and behaviors are smart, and people who can realize their own strengths and weaknesses are wise.

The reason why saints and sages can become sages, be respected by the world, and pass on the fire of wisdom to future generations in the form of quotations and words is precisely because they realize the importance of knowing themselves and often They reflect on themselves, analyze themselves, and then improve themselves step by step in terms of character, moral character, literacy, knowledge, etc. They even regard understanding and changing themselves as part of understanding and changing the world.

As the sages have praised and advocated, every person who desires a change and breakthrough in his life, no matter what stage of life he is in, should first pay attention to the knowledge of himself. Only after you have a clear and full understanding of your own personality, abilities, preferences, strengths and weaknesses, can you reshape yourself and plan your future in a targeted manner. And those who move forward paranoidly without serious self-awareness and introspection, and without knowing how to correct themselves, may be destined to have a bumpy road in life.

As a teenager, Napoleon was very brutal and willful. In his autobiography, he once wrote: I was a stubborn, reckless child who refused to admit defeat and could not be controlled by anyone. I terrify everyone in my family. The one who suffered the most was my brother. I beat him and scolded him. Before he came to his senses, I pounced on him like a wild wolf. Not only that, Napoleon would often surprise and attack children older than him without any reason. Napoleon, short and frail, often made those he attacked shudder. His family hates iron and cannot do anything to deal with him, while outsiders regard him as a legitimate gangster and a genuine gangster.

It was such a little gangster who kept his family in fear all day long and firmly believed that sooner or later he would either end up in a prison cell or die on the street. Suddenly one day he began to mature and was no longer keen on challenging the strong with his fists. They bully the weak, but indulge in deep thoughts that their peers cannot understand.

Napoleon was madly obsessed with all kinds of complex imaginations and plans, and began to try to control his language and behavior calmly and rationally, no longer as impulsive and irritable as before. He was surprised to find that he had excellent thinking ability, and for the first time he truly understood himself: although he was stubborn, reckless, and even sometimes lacked self-control and acted recklessly. However, I am perseverant, decisive, quick-thinking, and full of fighting spirit, which is something that many of my peers around me do not possess.

At this point, a new understanding ignited his passion for life. Napoleon told himself as clearly as if he discovered God: Yes, your boy has the talents of an outstanding military strategist, and the supreme power is Something you should strive to pursue and obtain. Once a clear self-awareness and cognition are formed, it will have a huge impetus on a person's thinking and behavior, and most of this impetus is positive and effective. It was this that prompted Napoleon to overcome obstacles and win consecutive battles on the road to success, and finally became the Emperor of France.

Just imagine, if the young Napoleon had no sense of self-understanding, how could he have discovered that he had the talent of an outstanding military strategist, and how could he have been sure that supreme power was what he wanted? He will continue to bully the weak and bully the weak as before. It can even be thought that it was his profound understanding and analysis of himself that allowed Napoleon to clarify his ideals and mission, and laid a solid ideological foundation for his subsequent achievements.

No matter who you are, you can only start in the right direction if you have a clear understanding of yourself. Self-awareness is an important prerequisite for self-improvement and self-discipline.

A person doesn't even know what he wants, what he lacks, and which aspects are his advantages and strengths. However, he keeps urging himself to rush forward on a fork in the road. The result can only lead to the opposite direction and deviate from the original intention.

The so-called knowing ourselves does not mean that we sit in front of the mirror and greet the person in the mirror with a playful smile: Brother, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I count on my fingers that you and I have been together for more than 20 years. Zai, today I have the opportunity to take a closer look at you. Oh, you have a few more pimples today and a few more stubbles. Come, let me tidy it up for you.

Knowing yourself requires seriousness. The most important thing is to conduct an objective, fair and comprehensive reflection on yourself. In the process of introspection, we should focus on the aspects of personal thoughts, character and quality, as well as our own academic abilities, professional qualities, and behavioral habits. See which ones are your own advantages and strengths, which are conducive to the progress of life and career, and need to be maintained and carried forward; and which ones have flaws and deficiencies, which need to be corrected and made up for in time.

Knowing ourselves does not mean that we are blindly arrogant and only see our own advantages or advantages. Arrogantly believing that others are inferior to oneself, what is this if not arrogance? If this is not childish, what is it? You know, there are many people who are better than us. Standing in a line together, they can circle the earth several times.

Of course, knowing yourself does not mean completely denying yourself. Always comparing your own shortcomings and disadvantages with the advantages and strengths of others, feeling how inferior you are to others, belittling yourself to nothing, feeling inferior and cowardly, this is also a sign of immaturity. As the saying goes, no gold is pure and no one is perfect. Everyone has shortcomings and deficiencies. The key lies in whether they can face their own shortcomings and deficiencies and correct and improve them in a timely manner.

To understand yourself, you should be objective and fair, observe yourself like an outsider, and evaluate yourself comprehensively. The shortcomings and strengths in the personality should be split equally equally, the strengths and weaknesses in work ability should be split equally equally, and the mellowness and deficiencies in dealing with others should also be split equally equally. The more objective and rational a person's understanding of himself is, the clearer and more comprehensive he can grasp the strengths and weaknesses of his own existence, so that he can encourage the good and correct the bad.

Understand your own strengths and specialties

Einstein once received a letter from the Israeli authorities inviting him to serve as the president of Israel, but Einstein responded politely and declined. . He wrote in the letter: I have been dealing with objective matter my whole life. I lack both innate intelligence and practical experience to handle administrative affairs and treat others fairly. Therefore, I am not suitable to accept such a high-ranking official position.

In Einstein's view, he did not have the advantage of strategizing in the political arena and was unlikely to become an outstanding national leader, so he refused. But he also saw his talents and advantages in physics research, so he made proud achievements in the field of physics.

Everyone has their own advantages and specialties. Only by fully discovering and understanding them and gradually consolidating and strengthening them can we stand out more quickly in the fields in which we are good.

On the contrary, if you put aside your natural advantages and specialties and seek to survive and develop in a field that you are not good at at all, you may not be able to achieve anything big in your lifetime.

This is like asking Tyson to play the piano, asking Lang Lang to box, asking James to sing opera, and asking Dwayne Johnson to dance ballet. Thinking about it gives me goosebumps.

Recognize your own shortcomings and bad habits

When chatting with a friend, he told me that he admired a certain type of people. I asked him what kind of people he admired, and he said he admired people who reflect seriously before going to bed every night. I heard this from a friend and I agree with it.

This kind of people are so scary. The scary thing about them is that they live soberly every day instead of being led by the inertia of life every day. They will not only reflect on their mistakes in work and life, but also on the strength of their implementation of plans and the progress of completing their goals. Everything is within their control, and even if there are slight deviations, they will find ways to make adjustments in time.

They will not complain about the social atmosphere and the preconceived unspoken rules that exist in all walks of life, nor will they complain about being born in poverty. Because they know that these are established facts, and no matter how much they complain and are dissatisfied, nothing will change. They only focus on their own growth and will review from time to time how much progress they have made and where they are lacking.

A friend introduced me to a course, saying that the lecturer of this course was a best-selling author, and most of the topics of his recent lectures were related to introspection and change. I became interested as soon as I heard it, so I took some time on Sunday to go with him.

I won’t mention the author’s name to avoid people saying that I am advertising his work. To be honest, this was also the first time I came into contact with this writer and the first time I listened to his lectures. But after listening to it that day, I felt that the method and content of his lectures were not rigid at all, and were very humorous and approachable. Rather than expounding his views by quoting classics from the beginning, he first told an anecdote about when he was in college:

The achievements I have achieved now are entirely due to a sudden inspiration when I was in college. Small gestures.

I was too casual at that time and often couldn’t control myself.

I slept in when I shouldn't have, I postponed studying when I shouldn't have, I had arguments with my friends that I shouldn't have, I stayed up late when I shouldn't, and I wanted to quit smoking but couldn't.

One night I was lying on the bed in the dormitory and thought, if I continue to let things go like this, I probably won’t achieve much in this life. When I was bored, I somehow thought of a Buddhist book I had read before, which contained annotations on the Eight Fasts.

I have changed these eight precepts and changed them into new eight precepts that target my own shortcomings. In order to warn myself, I also changed my WeChat name to Bajie, and left specific notes in the signature column: The so-called Eight Precepts are: one is impetuous, two is laziness, three is procrastination, four is hypocrisy, and five is Arrogance, six precepts are indulgent, seven precepts are decadent, and eight precepts are indifferent.

Every morning when I wake up, I post this note in my circle of friends as a warning to myself. I feel that doing this is very meaningful, as if I am completing a solemn ceremony.

This was inappropriate and even perverse, which caused a lot of jokes at the time. There was a time when my acquaintances would tease me like this: Bajie, are you going to study on your own? Zhu Wuneng, go play ball? Second Senior Brother, shall we go to the cafeteria to eat? What's more, he slapped me on the shoulder from behind: You idiot, take a stick from me!

Although I received a lot of well-intentioned teasing, I didn't take it seriously at all, and I focused on correcting these major shortcomings in myself. What other people think of it is their business. I will have to deal with these eight shortcomings of my own in the future. What I never expected later was that this move was recognized and imitated by many classmates, and also caused a trend. Many people used these eight precepts to restrain themselves.

Of course, they need to take warnings, and the things they need to make corrections and changes in time may be different from mine, because everyone’s personality characteristics are different, and their own shortcomings are also different. All the same.

But no matter what, for everyone who wants to change themselves, they need to find out their shortcomings and bad habits in life after deep introspection.

The reason is very simple. If you don’t know what shortcomings and bad habits you have, how can you correct them? This is like an archer who is blindfolded when shooting an arrow and does not know the location of the target. How do you ask him to aim and draw the bow to exert force?