Understand Yourself: The Big Five Personality Framework
There may be many benefits to knowing yourself: you might find a job which supposedly fits your personality type, you can be careful in choosing a life partner who is not completely different at all levels from you, or you could simply benefit from knowing yourself in the day-to-day life, with self awareness and intentionality in whatever you do. Knowing yourself can also be beneficial in communicating with others in a more empathically honest way (I included this last sentence just because I wanted to link to that good Ted Talk on empathic vs. brutal honesty eheh).
One thing is to know yourself, another thing is to see yourself as a close, unchanging individual. Knowing yourself is powerful; considering yourself fixed is, one may argue, powerless. Considering yourself a fixed entity corresponds to having a mostly external locus of control, which means that you do not perceive yourself as a constantly changing, flowing, adaptable, constantly improving person, but you regard yourself as a static, external-events-driven human being.
Especially when we are young, trying to understand our personality can be truly helpful. It can provide us with the realization that we can choose our own destiny to a large extent, and it gives us an insight on why we tend to behave in certain ways in specific circumstances. Not in a judgmental manner. Rather, in a self aware and acceptant way. Because it is through understanding ourselves that we can tap into the power of mental clarity and detachment from the ego, which means seeing ourselves as if we were analysing an external entity.
One could also argue that knowing ourselves is a solid step towards understanding other people better and with a more clear mindedness. This, in turn, can truly lead to more conscious conversations and interactions with people, as well as more elaborate choices in life, which don't just look at the immediate benefits, but take into account the bigger picture, in which our personality is factored in the choices we make. Considering that perceptions of reality vary widely among individuals, being in touch with our authentic self can be a game changer when it comes to interpersonal relationships, due to the fact that self awareness shines a light also on other people, making it possible for us to understand our limits, and possibly communicate in a more complete, truthful, empathic manner.
Knowing ourselves also opens the door to structure in our lives and daily decisions, acting as a sort of inner anchor and point of reference according to which to conduct ourselves.
A great starting point in the journey towards knowing yourself might be the Big Five Personality Framework. This is one of the most renowned assessments to measure personality, and it seems to be one of the most accurate out there.
How to know ourselves and others in an attempt to live a more examined, mindful, internally-driven existence? This post looks at this question, by presenting the Big Five Personality Framework.