Transcript
A (0:00)
The most important discipline, it's probably like the end game. It's what we're teaching is we're teaching people how to fully, freely be their true self in this world. And so that's ultimately where we're taking them.
B (0:24)
Hello, everyone. My name is Rob Dubay. Guess who I'm here with? Gino Wickman.
A (0:30)
I was so excited. I thought there was somebody else. It's just me.
B (0:35)
Okay, that's just you. Sorry to disappoint everybody.
A (0:38)
I thought we had a guest today.
B (0:39)
I know you all want to hear me, but anyway, Gino, today we're going to revisit discipline number three, which is know thyself. So let me start off by saying this. We remind readers in our book Shine that the Greeks etched know thyself at the temple of Apollo at Delphi. Now, they didn't do this to remind all who entered to recognize their own limit. They did do this. Excuse me. To remind all who entered to recognize their own limits, understand their abilities, and accept their place in this world. Essentially, to know oneself as immortal and not divine. It encouraged humility and self awareness before seeking advice from the gods, emphasizing that true wisdom begins with self. So this can actually be a very deep topic. And there are many winding paths to know thyself better. Now, we write about simple things, like in the book taking personality profiles, asking people close to you in your life to share your greatest strengths and weaknesses. Asking people to rate you, how humble you are, doing things like going to therapy. Okay, now going a little bit deeper, maybe doing energy work, deep prayer or meditation, or even looking at things like psychedelics. All are paths that people can go down to know thyself better. So what practice or practices has most helped you recognize for yourself? To know thyself, your limits, your abilities, and most importantly, your place in this world.
A (2:14)
All right, well, there's the perfect tee up to what I want to say.
B (2:17)
Oh, good.
A (2:18)
So again, the discipline is called know thyself. And I always lovingly like to say, to fully be your true self and free your true self, you've got to know thyself first. And so as you embark on this journey, and so you're asking me about me, and that's where I want to end with this. I just think about, you know, in my 20s, my 30s, my 40s, my 50s, it was in my 20s when I started to embark on various profiling tools and introspectively looking at myself. But it was still all outer world stuff. And if you think of this as a process or a slowly Chiseling and working your way to the center. I really believe that it does start with learning your skills and abilities. And so I think about a young person, you know, age 15, age 20, age 25, age 30. You got to start by starting to really understand and learn your skills and abilities. And then there's this wonderful journey. Whatever age you start, is to then start to go a little deeper and understand strengths and weaknesses. And there's a lot of power in understanding what your gifts are. And then weaknesses are all about avoiding them, not trying to strengthen them. So understanding that, then it's understanding personality and traits, and then it's getting to the really good stuff. And that is energetic blocks, releasing them, freeing your true self. And so I say all of that because I think everyone out there is at a different place, is at a different level with this, and, and I think it's sometimes scary or dangerous to jump all the way to, hey, shed all your shit and you'll know thyself and be thyself. Because for some out there, you just need to start by better understanding your skills and abilities. That's okay. It's okay to focus on outer world stuff. You don't have to jump to the inner world stuff. But with that context, I just don't want people to lose sight of the ultimate end game. Because this discipline, know thyself, it's like, it's probably the most important discipline. It's probably like the end game. It's what we're teaching is we're teaching people how to fully, freely be their true self in this world. And so that's ultimately where we're taking them. And I certainly want to hit all of that in this conversation. But nonetheless, getting there is where then you are 100% fully free, your true self, and you're floating through life. So with that, as I share that context, you know, I can share lots of examples. Again, like I said, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, how just simply taking a profiling tool and understanding that I'm an introvert and embracing that and learning that there's nothing wrong with me, that was very powerful. And again, it might seem so minor in the grand scheme of things, but that shifts everything or it shifted everything in my life. When I really understood that about myself, when I see extroverts in action and it's less appealing to me and I would become insecure because I was not extroverted like that, I'm more introverted. So again, it's just that again, know thyself, know thyself. So we can get into lots of examples, but what I want to do is I want to take you all the way to the end of all of that learning. Decades of learning, decades of shedding. And the end game for me right now, and I shared this in a previous episode, but what I realized so clearly now is, is that my true self in my work life is three things. Creating content, teaching content, and navigating. And so I call it navigation. And that's just me providing navigation to the leaders in my life and the people I work with. And so I just do those three things all day, every day. In my work life and in my personal life. It's all about spending time with loved ones, friends and family, and pursuing my passions and doing my passions. And that's as simple as going for a walk, reading a book, traveling with friends and family. So all of my time is spent doing that. So that is the end game. That's where I've gotten to. And certainly there's more shedding that goes on. So now we can go into any detail, you know, from that beginning to where we are today. Happy to share anything.