This is the most difficult part, Firstly we all believe we know ourselves very well. Lot of time we spend thinking about ourselves, as our inner voices keep talking to us, we believe our inner voices both positive and more negative ones, that’s how we start to build the self-limiting beliefs. There are various methods to discover ourselves, some of the most popular ones are DISC, Myers-Briggs and other tools like Insights. 

Why is it important to understand yourself:

This is very important because when we are born, we are clean, innocent and unbiased as we grow older, our circumstances, exposure to outside world and type of information we are been fed or taught makes us highly biased. The cognitive bias will also induce some of the self-limiting beliefs. Hence if we invest in understanding ourselves we will be successful in eliminating our self-limiting beliefs and eventually lead to breakthrough success. Invest time to understand ourselves using any of the above tools, then formulate a strategy to utilise the strengths to the fullest extent. 

Control Your Thoughts:

Once you know yourself very well, you are in a better position to take control of your thoughts, though one needs to be persistent and patient as this is a behaviour you have been following for many years, it will take time. The first step is to acknowledge your thoughts and associate with your bias. Second Step is to control your thought and reframe it to the positive tone. 

Your thoughts will lead to action hence if you take responsibility for yourself and action, it is important to acknowledge your thoughts rather than fight against it. Practice reframing until it becomes your second nature. 

Action:

Your action will clearly represent your thought if your thoughts are positive and outcome drive, you will translate the same to action and eventually those actions will yield the outcome or desired results you would like to have. 

Next Step:

Take a professional help to discover yourself and formulate a clear strategy to unleash your full potential and achieve what you are supposed to achieve. 

 Reference: 

 Carlson, E. (2013) Overcoming the Barriers to Self-Knowledge: Mindfulness as a Path to Seeing Yourself as You Really Are. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8(2) 173–186.

Carlson, E., Vazire, S., Oltmanns, T. F. (2011) You Probably Think This Paper’s About You: Narcissists’ Perceptions of Their Personality and Reputation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 101, No. 1, 185–201.

Dunning, D., Kruger, J. (1999) Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 77, No. 6, 121-1134.

Dunning, D., Heath, C., Suls, J. M. (2004). Flawed self-assessment: Implications for health, education, and the workplace. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5, 69–106.