Lessons tagged “self-knowledge”
18 published lessons with this tag.
Calibration requires feedback
You cannot improve the alignment between your confidence and your accuracy without external data that reveals the gap between what you believed and what actually happened. Calibration without feedback is guesswork about guesswork.
Limits of meta-cognition
There are limits to how much you can observe your own thinking — know these limits.
Stated values versus revealed values
What you say you value and what your behavior reveals you value are often different. The gap between stated and revealed values is one of the most important pieces of self-knowledge you can acquire.
Values are discovered through reflection
Values are not invented — they are discovered through careful reflection on what has consistently mattered to you across different contexts and life stages.
Values articulation exercise
A value you cannot articulate is a value you cannot deliberately act on. The act of putting values into precise language transforms them from vague feelings into operational guides.
Test values through hypothetical trade-offs
You do not truly know your values until you know what you would sacrifice for them. Hypothetical trade-offs test whether a stated value is genuine or aspirational.
Regularly revisit your values
Schedule periodic values check-ins to ensure your priorities still reflect who you are becoming.
Priorities reflect values
Your actual priorities are a real-time expression of your actual values.
Narrative as meaning construction
The stories you tell about your life create the meaning of your life.
Purpose is not singular
You can have multiple purposes that operate at different scales and in different domains.
Ikigai as a purpose-finding framework
What you love what you are good at what the world needs and what you can be paid for.
Testing your hierarchy through real decisions
Actual choices reveal your real value hierarchy better than abstract reflection.
The values conflict log
Record instances where values conflicted and what you chose to understand your hierarchy.
The bi-annual values review
Twice a year formally review your values and their ranking.
Values and regret analysis
Examining your regrets reveals where you acted against your values.
The top three values
Identify your three highest values — these should guide your most important decisions.
Refining values through experience
Lived experience teaches you more about your values than abstract contemplation.
Creative blocks as meaning signals
When you are blocked examine what the block is telling you about your current relationship to meaning.