Episode Details

“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Are you tired of that ditty? We are. How are you supposed to know what you love if we don’t 100% know who we are?

“Know thyself” is a maxim that has been central to Western civilization for the last 2500 years. It has been pervasive in philosophy over the ages and more recently in psychology. Who are we? Who am I? These questions blend nicely with understanding why we do what we do, a foundational question in behavioral science. And it is with this curiosity that cohosts Kurt Nelson, PhD and Tim Houlihan delve into the mysteries of who we think we are.

More importantly, this episode is interested in honest self-discovery: the answer to the question: who am I? To help you answer that, we humbly submit a series of questions and reflections for your consideration, for the purpose of having a clearer sense of who I am. (At least at the moment.)

We use three sets of reflections for you to consider:

1. Identify where in your life you find energy, joy, and satisfaction. These questions and reflections allow us to target the ideals and desires we have in our lives. These are enhancers.
2. Identify what aspects of our lives are not going the way we want them to. These questions help us clarify what is not working for us. These are detractors.
3. Identify what requirements we have to live in this world. In others, what obligations, relationships, and financial requirements, among other things, are commitments we must live by? These are necessities. 

We also talk about the nature of memories, the present moment, and ways our future aspirations influence who we are. We even discuss Dr. Bryan Lowery’s idea that who we are is largely influenced by the people around us. (Talk about mind-bending!)

By reflecting on these questions and our general discussion, we hope that Groovers can discover a clearer picture of who you are and that these reflections will lead you to a more perfect version of knowing thyself, as Socrates might say.

© 2023 Behavioral Grooves, LLC

Behavioral Grooves Website: www.behavioralgrooves.com 

Ethan Hawke TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/ethan_hawke_give_yourself_permission_to_be_creative?language=en 

Bhagavad Gita: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita 

Hal Hershfield Episode 369: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/your-future-self-hal-hershfield/ 

Brené Brown: https://brenebrown.com/ 

Brian Lowery Episode 312: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/meaning-in-life-brian-lowery/ 

Self-Serving Bias: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-serving_bias 

Fundamental Attribution Error: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_attribution_error 

Motivated Reasoning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivated_reasoning 

Confirmation Bias: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias 

Intention-Action Gap: https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/psychology/intention-action-gap 

Know Thyself Questions: 

Finding En