Why did Aristotle say that knowing oneself is the beginning of

wisdom? Why is it important to know oneself? Personal

development starts with knowing yourself. Before you start to build
and improve your relationships with other people and before you
can identify and set your career and life goals, you should know
yourself well first. This lesson will help you understand more about
yourself and start your way to personal development.

WHAT IS THE SELF?

WHY IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE SELF?

Dimensions of the Self: Physical, Psychological, Spiritual

 The word "Self" is popularly and generally defined as what an

individual sees, per-ceives, and defines oneself apart from others.
The term self-perception is a sub-definition of this simple yet
complex concept.
The self as we know it is divided into three known dimensions -
physical, psy-chological, and spiritual. To know oneself, one must
distinguish the three apart from
each other.

The physical dimension revolves around the physical body of a

human being, its processes, functions, mechanisms, and chemistry
- from the cells as the smallest units, the tissues these cells create
when united, the organs these tissues give shape to, to the organ
systems that pretty much are responsible to keeping us alive,
walking, talking, and breathing. This dimension is responsible for
giving us the ability to move our muscles, to perceive our
surroundings, and to think of the ideas and opinions that bring
wonders to our lives and of others'.

Next comes the psychological dimension which contains the

concepts of stress, cognition, behavior, attitude, emotion and
ultimately, personality. As compared to the physical dimension
which could be observed directly and be measured, the ps-
chological dimension has both internal and external factors that can
or cannot be measured, observed, and calculated. To make it
simpler, the physical dimension of self refers to the individual as an
organism under the species of Homo sapiens, a person will view
oneself based on his or her physical traits; while the psychological
dimension of self refers to the individual as a set of characteristics,
behaviors, atti-tudes, cognitions, and emotions.

Lastly, the spiritual dimension allows us to view ourselves in a

spiritual level
- as spiritual beings. Compared to the physical and psychological
dimensions, this dimension cannot be observed but can be
subjectively altered and perceived by the person. It holds a
relevance to a perceived existence of God, of a greater good, or a
Superior Being relating to the humble individual.

Self-concept and Self-esteem

Self-concept and self-esteem are two different terms that are

usually mistakenly interchanged. Let us define them by aiming for
their key differences. Ir

Self-concept is our cognition to ourselves, what we think and know

about our identity, personality, and individuality. It requires a lot of
self-evaluation and reflection to be able to say that your self-
concept is high. Then again, it is still focused on the cognition
component of attitude, proving what Rene Descartes had said: "I
think, therefore I am.
When we think we are worthless and talentless, we end up
identifying ourselves to the thought and behave in such a way that
the thought holds true. When we are brought up to think that we are
special again and again, we may tend to have an overly bloated
self-concept that may lead to self-entitlement.

Self-esteem is related to self-concept but it is different. It does not

focus on how we know ourselves but rather our attitude towards
ourselves. It is a more situational approach in terms of attitude
because self-esteem is how we value our-selves, given the
negative or positive feedback we receive. To further delineate self-
concept from self-esteem, we must focus on their key difference -
the involvement of emotion. Self-concept is purely or mostly
informational while self-esteem is emotionally inclined.

Self-concept and self-esteem are learned variables, however. If one

is raised in an unsupportive home filled with verbal degradations
one would probably feel and think that he or she is a burden to
blame for familial problems. On the other hand, if an individual is
raised in a fostering or nurturing environment, his or her self-con-
cept and self-esteem would be more positive - making one feel
secure, integrated, and sure of oneself.

Having low self-esteem usually leads to decreased confidence

levels, a whim to be like or look like someone else deemed
"superior", being a pleaser of other people, and pessimism. On the
contrary, individuals with high self-esteem develop high confidence
with themselves, a huge degree of self-acceptance, a tolerance to
what other people think of them, and optimism.

It would be unfair to compare people with high self-esteem from low

self-es-teem because every individual person has gotten through
different situations that led them to what they are at present self-
concept, attitude, self-esteem, and all.
Nonetheless, the knowledge of the two terms - self-concept and
self-esteem - will help any individual into developing a sturdier,
more adaptive personality for his or her own growth.

If one's enemy is his or her low self-esteem, through developing his

or her personality, one may overcome its lows and give way to an
enlightened and more evolved outlook in life. If one's enemy, on the
other hand, is his or her bloated self-esteem and self-concept, he or
she would know to keep grounded for him or her to keep learning
and grow into a better, more actualized individual.

Comparing people is not pleasantly fair but for some it actually

works to propel them, and sadly, for others, it discourages them
further down. Personality is too complex to be given an absolute
solution or formula, that is why it is focused on applicable theories.
Which method applies to you?