My dear boy,
“Man know thyself.” It would amaze you how many are yet to find themselves. However, to find something suggests an assumption that you know what to look for. Hence, to find a thing is to know what is being sought.
Of the many things we may not be certain about, but on the subject of who we are, our strengths, and self-awareness, we must insist on the same, and that early enough. Our strengths and weaknesses ought to be made bare to us. Perhaps, by observation or often times by situations.
I do not attempt to work like others just for the sake of it. Two truths I have found about myself: I am terrible at multitasking, and woeful at working long hours without breaks. Hence, I pick a thing and exhaust my interest in it and the options it is laden with while working in batches of focused three-hour blocks. This has been both fulfilling and highly productive. This knowledge, which some upper-level managers have described as a weakness, safeguards me against frequent burnout. As such, I am more available than most in the long run. Sun Tzu’s observation concurs, thus, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
Just to be clear, I can work on multiple projects simultaneously. I divide my day. The morning is for a project, and the afternoon is for another. But never will I work on two projects in the morning. You deny the projects your best effort, and is it worth it if we don’t bring our best foot forward? You can say I have mastered compartmentalization. I digress.
To know your weakness is a strength. Some weaknesses we must not waste a moment’s breath on. Nonetheless, those that predicate our survival must, in fact, be checked.
I must add that if we stay on the path of self-awareness long enough, we shall come to the truth of our god. Your god is that being, person, or idea or conceptualization for which you’d do anything. As Friedrich Nietzsche captures, “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” This becomes relevant, given that your values are born of your devotion to your god. Note, there is none without a god.
Again, know thyself, my boy. Play from your strengths, for that is the foundation of self-awareness and mastery.
Love,
Dad.
