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Who Am I Quotes

    “It’s only the idea that everyone else KNOWS who they are that’s causing you pain.  But no one knows who they really are.  You are an overflowing river that shifts its banks when the rains come.  That’s why you cannot hold on to who you are.” ~ Iain Thomas, Every Word You Cannot Say (Page 120)

    Jordan Peterson Quote on Judging Ourselves Based On Our Actions—Not Our Beliefs

      “It is your actions that most accurately reflect your deepest beliefs—those that are implicit, embedded in your being, underneath your conscious apprehensions and articulable attitudes and surface-level self-knowledge.  You can only find out what you actually believe (rather than what you think you believe) by watching how you act.  You simply don’t know what you believe, before that.  You are too complex to understand yourself.”

      Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 103)

      Beyond the Quote (10/365)

      I read an expression the other day that really took me aback: We judge ourselves based on our thoughts but we judge others based on their actions.  I knew it was true the second I read it, but I never would have realized it if I hadn’t read it.  This was, in fact, the way in which I judged myself versus how I judged others (for the most part) and it was a clear double-standard that I felt guilty about.

      Read More »Jordan Peterson Quote on Judging Ourselves Based On Our Actions—Not Our Beliefs

        “We forget that how a person acts in each moment is not who they are, that each person is a series of moments and we cannot judge any moment in isolation, and use that moment to define them.  It is not up to others, it is up to us, which moments we want to hang on to, for good or for bad.  We forget our successes and enshrine our failures.  We forget there is still a child in all of us, begging for love.  We forget that this is true of every person we meet.  We only hear the loudest voices when really, we should be listening to the quietest.” ~ Iain Thomas, Every Word you Cannot Say (Page 43)

          “Who are you?  When you buy a house and prepare to live in it, you hire an inspector to list all its faults—as it is, in reality, now, not as you wish it could be.  You’ll even pay him for the bad news.  You need to know.  You need to discover the home’s hidden flaws.  You need to know whether they are cosmetic imperfections or structural inadequacies.  You need to know because you can’t fix something if you don’t know it’s broken—and you’re broken.  You need an inspector.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 93)

            “You need to consider the future and think, ‘What might my life look like if I were caring for myself properly?  What career would challenge me and render me productive and helpful, so that I could shoulder my share of the load, and enjoy the consequences?  What should I be doing, when I have some freedom, to improve my health, expand my knowledge, and strengthen my body?’  You need to know where you are, so you can start to chart your course.  You need to know who you are, so that you understand your armament and bolster yourself in respect to your limitations.  You need to know where you are going, so that you can limit the extent of chaos in your life, restructure order, and bring the divine force of Hope to bear on the world.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Pages 62-63)

              “You are born with a particular makeup and tendencies that mark you as a piece of fate.  It is who you are to the core.  Some people never become who they are; they stop trusting in themselves; they conform to the tastes of others, and they end up wearing a mask that hides their true nature.  If you allow yourself to learn who you really are by paying attention to that voice and force within you, then you can become what you were fated to become—an individual, a Master.” ~ Robert Greene, Mastery

                “You possess a kind of inner force that seeks to guide you toward your Life’s Task—what you are meant to accomplish in the time that you have to live.  In childhood this force was clear to you.  It directed you toward activities and subjects that fit you natural inclinations, that sparked a curiosity that was deep and primal.  In the intervening years, the force tends to fade in and out as you listen more to parents and peers, to the daily anxieties that wear away at you.  This can be the source of your unhappiness—your lack of connection to who you are and what makes you unique.  The first move toward mastery is always inward—learning who you really are and reconnecting with that innate force.  Knowing it with clarity, you will find your way to the proper career path and everything else will fall into place.  It is never too late to start this process.” ~ Robert Greene, Mastery

                  “We all have values for ourselves.  We protect these values.  We try to live up to them and we justify them and maintain them.  Even if we don’t mean to, that’s how our brain is wired.  If I believe I’m a nice guy, I’ll avoid situations that could potentially contradict that belief.  If I believe I’m an awesome cook, I’ll seek out opportunities to prove that to myself over and over again.  The belief always takes precedence.  Until we change how we view ourselves, what we believe we are and are not, we cannot overcome our avoidance and anxiety.  We cannot change.” ~ Mark Mason, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

                  The Medicine is the Sickness

                    If there’s one thing I hate, it’s people who won’t let me in on the freeway.

                    If there’s one thing I hate, it’s having to let people in on the freeway.

                    If there’s one thing I hate, it’s waking up to 50 assholes pretending to be me.

                    If there’s one thing I hate, it’s waking up feeing like an asshole because I yelled at those assholes.

                    If there’s one thing I hate, it’s people who turn the things I say into insipid greeting card messages.

                    If there’s one thing I hate, it’s turning a bunch of ideas into a laundry list.

                    If there’s one thing I hate, it’s that feeling you get when you scratch something new.

                    If there’s one thing I hate, it’s not knowing what’s wrong with someone and all you want to do is make them feel better.

                    If there’s one thing I hate it’s knowing that my mind naturally gravitates towards the negative and not being able to stop it.

                    If there’s one thing I hate, it’s people who become your friend, to become your friend’s friend.

                    If there’s one thing I hate, it’s being really busy and using that as an excuse to ignore your email.

                    If there’s one thing I hate, it’s having to acknowledge that my feelings are my own, no one else’s. And, my responsibility.

                    If there’s one thing I hate, it’s forgetting that and taking the way I feel out on the world.

                    If there’s one thing I hate, it’s people who criticise things, who can’t take criticism.

                    If there’s one thing I hate, it’s going to the same job day-after-day for the same pay.

                    If there’s one thing I hate, it’s not having a job.

                    If there’s one thing I hate, it’s not you.

                    It’s me.

                      “If you don’t challenge yourself, you don’t know yourself.” ~ SEAL, Living With A SEAL