How much do you know yourself?

I had never asked this question to myself until a friend of mine asked me the same. I blabbered for 10-12 mins and then became quite.  He then told me how to look for answers to that question. I feel it is very important for every individual to know the answer to the above question.

There are 4 ways to know the complete answer to the above question

Quadrant 1 covers the basic info about us – Height, Age, Birthdate, Address, Mobile Number, and Name. You get it stuff like that.

Quadrant 2 contains information which is not a secret but normally other won’t know about it – weight (sometimes, esp in case Girls), passwords, bank accounts

Quadrant 4 is the most embarrassing quadrant of all. It includes Bad breadth, Body odour, Stinking socks etc. We will need a lot of will power and a well-wisher to actually get rid of them. It can be done very easily if we are ready to listen to genuine people.

Quadrant 3 is the place where all secrets lie. This is the key to the success of an individual. How do you rectify your shortcomings which nobody knows? Who will guide you in making those changes? Who will hold your hand and lead you on the path of change?

The answer as I have found out is – BOOKS

Sydney Sheldon, J.K.Rowling, David Baldacci, Jeffrey Archer, Amish, Chetan Bhagat are great writers but their main motive is to entertain and not development. They are very good reads for having some fun but nothing more. They could improve your English by reading these novels (I will not vouch for the last two and definitely not Tolkien. He teaches you only Elvish)

If self-improvement is your goal then you have make some new friends – Dale Carnegie, Brian Tracy, John Maxwell, Robin Sharma, NapoleanHill, Robert Kiyosaki and many more. These are the people who have achieved great heights of success through hard work, research and time. Through books they share the time tested formulae through which one can achieve his/her maximum potential.

There is no book which is a bad book. So which one do you choose to read?  Either you can leave to destiny to direct you towards the right books or you take a conscious decision to choose books which will make the most impact on your life. How do you do that?

First – Build friendship with someone whom you aspire to become. You would be fortunate to have personal contact with him but you don’t then look up more about him on the internet or read his/her biography. For example – You would like to become like Ratan Tata. Please do research on him. Find out what kind of books he read and try to get hold of them. These are the books which made him what he is today.

If the person that you aspire to become is in your personal contact, then you need ask him some very frank questions. For example you would like to know more about yourself from relationship perspective. He might suggest a book which he has found useful and also will suit you also. There would many aspects that you would like explore – Money, Fame, Presentation and dressing etc. There is a book available for each topic that would suit you. You just need a guiding hand that will take you there.

I wish all of you all the best in finding the right book that will transform your life forever.

Next up – Self Image