Personal Development Lesson 2: Knowing Oneself

I. Self
 Is the union/culmination of elements, namely:
o Body
 The physical aspect of a person
 includes all biological structures and functions that enable interaction with the
physical world
o Thoughts
 The cognitive processes involving ideas, beliefs, memories, and mental images
that shape our understanding and decisions
o Feelings
 The subjective emotional experiences, such as happiness, sadness, anger, and
love, that influence our thoughts and behaviors
 Feelings vs emotions:
 Feelings are an input; they are your perceptions and behavior towards a
particular stimuli
 Emotions are an output or simply your expressions. How you feel defines
your emotions
 e.g. When engaging in public speaking you feel anxious, so you express
these feelings as anxiety and fear through emotions
II. Types of self
 According to Roy Baumeister
 Is part of self-concept
o Real self
 refers to who a person actually is
 includes their true feelings, thoughts, behaviors, and characteristics
 how you let others perceive you
 how society or people around
 expect you to be, or mainly just how you want to project yourself
o Ideal Self
 refers to who a person wants to be
 including their aspirations, goals, and the person they strive to become
 How you view yourself
 sometimes influenced by your parents’ expectations or the people you
admire,
III. Self-awareness
 Starts with assessing yourself
 Knowing your strengths and weaknesses
 Knowing your self-worth (self-esteem)
IV. Introspection
 process of examining one's own thoughts, feelings, and sensations
 involves looking inward to reflect on personal experiences and emotions, often to gain
self-awareness and understanding
 it also includes listening and accepting positive feedback from others, as well as their
opinions about you
o negative feedback is called criticism
 “Know thyself” (gnōthi sauton)
o Said by Socrates, a Greek Philosopher
o an old maxim (principle) or aphorism (saying) that has been used in varied literature
o “An unexamined life is not worth living”
o Socrates considers mastery of the self as the highest form of wisdom
 “Read thyself”
o Said by Thomas Hobbes “Leviathan” (1651)
o means to introspect and understand one's own nature, motivations, and desires
V. Self-concept
 one’s abstract and general idea about herself
 his/her own perception about herself
  a theory by Rene Descartes (the Father of Modern Philosophy)
 a person’s existence depends on his/her perception
 “mind is the seat of consciousness”
o it is in the mind that we know everything about ourselves like our identity, passion,
interest, feelings, and/or intellect, thus everything that we are comes from the mind
 The 3 aspects:
o Self-concept is learned
 no individual is born with self-concept
 A person will soon develop this as he/she grows old
 can only be acquired as soon as the person learns how to mingle with
others
o Self-concept is organized
 one’s perception towards him/her is firm
 a person may hear other people’s point of view regarding him but will keep
on believing that what he thinks of himself is always the right one
o Self-concept is dynamic
 he/she continues to encounter problems or challenges that may reveal
his/her self-concept in that particular time or situation
 Types of self-concept:
A. Subjective self or Existential self
o considered as the most basic self-concept
o involves the awareness that you are a separate and distinct individual
when compared to others
o Being a unique individual
B. Objective or Categorical self
o It is the understanding that you are define or you can describe yourself in
terms of different categories like being a boy, having black hair, being tall,
etc.
o Stating what is obvious to you as person
C. Emotional self
o focuses on emotional regulation where your ability to control and express
emotions are acquired
o could also refer to your attitudes and behavior with regards to your
emotions
D. Social self
o revolves around the increasing awareness that you are part of society
o that you have different roles to play depending on the situation
o who you are when you are with your circle of friends, family, society, or in
solitude
E. Psychological self
o encompasses your beliefs, values, attitudes, and personal identity
o includes self-reflection and understanding your psychological traits and
how they influence your behavior and thought patterns
F. Valued self
o also known as self-esteem
o This refers on how you value yourself as an individual
VI. Personality
 “personality” comes from Latin word “persona” (refers to the masks worn by Roman
actors in Greek dramas in order to project their respective roles)
 is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and characteristics
 makes a person’s behavior consistent and distinct
o Traits are qualities that are inherently unique, common to some group, or shared by
an entire species but the pattern is different for each individual
 Is inherent and acquired naturally
o Characteristics are unique qualities of an individual that include such attributes as
temperament, physique, and intelligence
 Is acquired through influence
VII. The Johari Window
  is a technique used to help you better understand your relationship with yourself and
others
 was created by American psychologists Joseph Luft
 has four regions:
A. Open Self
o what is known by you and others
B. Blind Self
o what is unknown by you but which others know
C. Hidden Self
o what is known by you but which others do not know
D. Unknown Self
o what is unknown by you and others

Source: PowerPoint Presentation 1 and 2,

Quote of the day (8/23/24): People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take on them.
By Epictetus

To understand others is to change your perspective.