With each reflected upon experience, we learn something about ourselves.
…Something goes well and we make a mental note to try and repeat that experience.
…Something goes wrong and we make a mental note to try and not repeat that experience.
The more we do this, the more self-aware we become. Until eventually, we get to a point where we feel like we know ourselves pretty damn well.
…We know what boosts us up and we know what brings us down. We know what makes us cheery and helpful—and we know what makes us irritable and withdrawn. We know what keeps us calm and we know what ticks us off.
And while there’s no doubt that this type of insight is invaluable to a person… it can also slowly become a crutch.
Oscar Wilde once said, “To define is to limit”—and this is precisely what we do to ourselves the more we “define” ourselves. The more sure we are that we’re “not a morning person”—the more we limit our ability to experience joy in the morning. The more sure we are that we “can’t function without food at a certain time”—the more we limit our ability to perform if we ever aren’t able to eat at that certain time. The more sure we are that we “aren’t the person who does that—whatever “that” is—the more we limit ourselves from ever trying.
Self-awareness is a superpower—don’t get me wrong.
But, try not to be so self-aware that you leave yourself no room to breathe into any new/fresh identities or take on any new/fresh experiences.