Know thy self?

If only I had a penny for every time some guru of success talks of 'Know Thy Self', I'd probably not need them...other than to tell me 'Know Thy Self' and adding a penny to my vast coffers. I mean, I rank this 'Know Thy Self' alongside 'Don't think of mangos'. Advice someone to do the impossible in order to achieve whatever and you can maintain your status as a guru indefinitely. After all, your advice would have made him the next Warren Buffet if only he could have avoided thinking of mangos or known himself or whatever.

I mean, come on! I cannot even tell you confidently that I had THIS haircut because I love my head half-shaved and NOT because of peer pressure alone. (Not ME you literal a******. Everyone knows that I need no barber's help to have a half-shaven head; So what if it is the wrong half for today's fashion?) AND you expect me to know things about myself that even my mom probably does not know.

And, yet, Tiru also wants the same. So, yeah, he is promising me that nothing will be impossible for me IF...I can achieve the impossible first and know my own self!

Olvadharivadhu arindhadhan kann thangich chelvaarkku selladhadhu il - Tirukkural

If someone, knowing what he can do and also the knowledge and tools needed to do that job, attempts diligently, there is nothing he cannot achieve - Loose Translation

Now, actually Tiru is not promising the impossible. I mean, yeah, he is promising that you will not fail at what you do but that comes with a precondition...that you will not attempt anything for which you lack the ability/power to do. So, within the limits of what you CAN do, nothing is impossible for you.

Which, yes, brings us to the first condition - that you should KNOW what your limits are. You may find some limits easy to identify - if you are a visual dud, you are hardly likely to think of yourself as the next Picasso or whatever. If you are tone-deaf, you do not aspire to the seat of Mozart.

The problem comes when you can do a bit of it. As in, if you are good enough as a bathroom singer, can you recognize that THAT is where your talent ends? That Hariharan or Sonu Nigam is not in danger of losing his place? Or recognize that a talent at fluently writing "In reply to..." may not suffice to win you the Booker Prize? I mean, you MAY not have sufficient talent OR, perhaps, it is just a matter of persistently honing it so that you can scale those heights. How are you to KNOW?

The second condition - of knowing what knowledge and tools are needed for the job AND the implicit statement that you need to acquire them - IS not merely doable but essential. I mean, it is all OK to sleep and dream of a princess falling into your lap and the king gifting you his kingdom but try PLANNING to have all that happen and you will either make it possible OR you will shift to more realistic dreams.

AND, yes, once you set out you need to have the patience, the diligence and the courage to persist with it despite the inevitable setbacks. Without all that, you will still not be sure of success.

But, yeah, it ALL starts with the impossible - KNOW THY SELF.