Going to school, studying, and engaging in professional life, it seems that the knowledge we need to focus on is the one that allows us to build expertise, allowing us to take up a role in an organization. We become lawyers, historians, doctors, etc.

Such knowledge is important as it is often knowledge that allows us to earn money. We seek those earnings in the hope that they will allow us to lead the life we want.

But there is one type of knowledge that is probably the most valuable of all.

It is knowing oneself.

Knowing what we do, however, isn’t sufficient. We need to know what we do and why we do it. In understanding the underlying causes of our behavior, we free ourselves from assuming that we are as we’ve seen ourselves to be. The awareness of the why allows us to let go of some of what we do as well as choose to continue doing as we have.

An outcome of knowing ourselves is the possibility of being sincere and experienced as authentic in any situation. It may still require courage to be sincere, but it’s easier to act in good faith and without denying blind spots.