whenever you need to make a decision in

life be it choosing a career path a job

or when you go through a personal crisis
like a family bereavement
it's important to know yourself and to
know what your real potential is
your real potential can be realized when
you find something you can do amazingly
well with minimum effort on your part
to find your true calling the path that
can help you realize your potential it's
important to get to know yourself very
well
or as carl jung said to go through the
process of individuation
individuation is a process of
personality transformation of bringing
the subconscious parts of yourself into
your personality becoming a whole
carl jung was one of the founders of
psychoanalysis which is a set of
psychological theories and methods
aiming to release repressed emotions and
experiences
he made huge contributions to the fields
of psychiatry anthropology archaeology
literature philosophy psychology and
religious studies
jung's philosophy is called jungian
philosophy and some of his most
important books are
psychology of the unconscious
man and his symbols the archetypes and
the collective unconscious
modern man in search of a soul
the psychology of the transference
memories dreams and thoughts
and the relations between the ego and
the unconscious
jung's mentor was the famous
psychologist sigmund freud however he
split from him founding his own school
of psychology called analytical
psychology
analytical psychology focuses on the
present as well as mythology folklore
and cultural experiences with the
purpose of integrating the human
consciousness
one of the most important aspects of
this analytical psychology which jung
founded is the process of individuation
jung considers the process of finding
the self and realizing your potential as
an important task in human development
to help you understand how to use jung's
teachings to realize your full potential
in life today we bring you eight lessons
that you can learn from the philosophy
of carl jung
number one
don't let others define you
jung said the world will ask you who you are and if you don't know the world will
tellyou
jung departed from freud in many ways
one way was that he didn't consider that
all psychological diseases come from
some childhood traumas
or that he was not for the concept of
the superego which for freud represents
the voice of conscience the voice of
other people inside ourselves
it's formed in childhood based on what
parents and educators told us regarding
what's good and what's bad and who we
should be
jung believed that the internal voice
which demands us to behave in one way or
another can have many different causes
and isn't limited to biological ones or
to past events from childhood or teenage
years
jung thought that our behavior is also
influenced by future aspirations and by
the way we see ourselves
when we don't have a realistic and
positive outlook of ourselves and of our
future we're weaker with less resistance
to face the possible aggressions from
other people or from the environment and
these can make us vulnerable to
psychological diseases
the world constantly demands us to be in
one way or another and sometimes it gets
aggressive with us testing our limits
what we need to do is to diminish its
voice and increase the voice of our own
self
from the moment we're born we're somehow
forced to copy others starting even
before our school years
if your self is weak then you'll listen
to them you'll do whatever others demand
you to do
however in time you will grow bitter
full of resentment and regrets that you
didn't follow your own way of being
don't try to copy anyone but rather
reflect first on what you really value
in life
do you value more security or freedom
are you more competitive or
collaborative
are you an explorer or do you feel
better following a routine schedule and
so on
don't pretend to be someone you're not
for example don't try to force yourself
to appear to be outgoing when in truth
you're an introvert
this will only damage you in the long
run you need to always question yourself
who you really are what your likes and
dislikes are and who you really want to
be in the future
only after you've been through this
introspection would you know what
actions to take and how to impose your
will on the world instead of letting the
world overwhelm you with its demands
no matter your age you should still
invest effort in finding your own style
your own voice your own behavior and
your own way to conduct your life
to live a good life you need to live a
life which represents you
without knowing what makes you unique
you can't know what kind of activities
you should pursue that can help you
reach your true potential
number two
understand your passions
in the words of jung
a man who has not passed through the
inferno of his passions has never
overcome them
as one of the founders of psychoanalysis
jung understood how important it is for
his patients to have the courage to face
the subconscious elements which he
usually repressed desires
for example sexual desires or desires to
harm somebody else or a desire for
performing an activity that can put you
in an embarrassing situation
only when we have this courage to face
them
can we heal ourselves from them
when we run away from what upsets us
what makes us uncomfortable or scares us
that thing will come back to haunt us
even worse
affecting our behavior and increasing
our anxiety
these subconscious elements are usually
related to repressed desires or passions
we usually repress them because they're
either immoral and unacceptable from
society's point of view or they're too
overwhelming and we're not able to cope
with them at all
when we have an aloof attitude towards
life when we're passive reacting slowly
to external events avoiding social
contacts we're usually running away from
our passions or in other words from
strong emotions which affect our
behavior especially when they're
repressed
for example you might have a passion for
communicating with other people you
might have the potential of becoming a
great public speaker
but you have a childhood trauma one
adult made fun of you and your way of
speaking when you were a child
and this event made you fear opening
yourself up to other people and risk
being embarrassed again
the best way to heal from such anxieties
and discover your real passions again is
to practice more journaling analyze your
dreams
get to know yourself better
be more forgiving with yourself
make time for things you really care for
learn to overcome your fears step by
step
looking at the given example you could
take some lessons in public speaking and
maybe discover just how talented you are
and how unjustified your fear was
get more in touch with what makes you
feel alive and more knowledgeable about
the inner workings of your inner
passions
number three
focus on who you want to be
[Music]
to quote jung
i am not what happened to me
i am what i choose to become
although jung was deeply interested in
mythology and even came up with the
concept of collective unconscious which
is the part of our unconscious that's
common to all human beings deeply
influencing us in many aspects of life
without our awareness
he was for a stronger development of our
conscious capabilities to decide our own
fate
it's also possible that precisely
because of knowing how vulnerable we are
to the unconscious elements
jung emphasized on the importance of
choosing who we want to become and
integrating all the unconscious elements
into this identity even the components
of our immature psyche for example some
attitudes that we picked up in childhood
like a constant desire for love and
attention or the fear of abandonment
we need to integrate them over time into
a well-functioning whole which is our
individuality
this process of integration jung called
individuation
what defines us is the end goal towards
which we aim
this being the well-functioning whole
what we choose to become
having a goal regarding the person we
wish to become is extremely important
for the good functioning of our psyche
if we don't know who we want to become
how we want to represent ourselves in
the face of the world
we'll just go with the flow
one danger in living your life as it
comes without putting your will to work
without putting effort into thinking
through when taking important life
decisions
is that you might find yourself in a
situation that completely copies a
traumatic episode from your past
when we leave our life to the
unconscious driver it leads us back to
something unresolved from early times
and it's usually a negative experience
that we need to find an answer for
for example if you come from a
dysfunctional family in which you were
neglected or perhaps even abused
if you just follow your instincts or
your heart in choosing your life partner
you risk ending up in the same type of
household copying the same situation
following your instincts blindly and not
using your reason into taking decisions
that prevent you from making the best
decisions in life
and from realizing your potential
the immature element of the psyche in
this example is the fear of abandonment
and this fear makes you search for the
same pattern of dysfunctionality
to overcome this fear you need to have a
clear vision of where you really want to
end up
make a clear and rational plan on how to
get there and follow through not giving
too much attention to your doubts and
fears
thus while focusing on who you want to
become you integrate the components of
your immature psyche into this new
personality who isn't afraid anymore
to avoid being a victim of your fears
and your past you need to spend more
time with yourself reflect on your past
experiences think what they can teach
you
understand that they don't define you
what defines you is who you want to
become
then you have to decide who you really
want to become and strive in real life
to be that person
number four
give up your addictions
jung teaches us that
every form of addiction is bad no matter
whether the narcotic be alcohol morphine
or idealism
addiction is a serious problem affecting
people on many levels including the
biological social psychological and even
spiritual levels
jung encountered many types of patients
suffering from addiction
however he saw some similarities between
people with real addictions like alcohol
some compulsory gestures and so on and
people suffering from idealism
we sometimes become fixated on some
ideal views over life avoiding seeing
that reality is completely different
than that rosy picture
we just try to find ways to escape
facing the real problems of life of what
really hurts us because we don't feel
capable of facing those issues
that's why we find refuge in drugs
alcohol and idealism
to maintain our healthy psyche we need
to be in touch with reality not avoid it
if you don't like that you're overweight
and unsuccessful in life don't waste
your days with narcotics drugs alcohol
or idealism
but rather have the courage to face
reality make a plan to change the
situation apply more aggressively to
jobs and consistently follow a workout
routine
if you continue to spend your days
partially unconscious or stuck in some
damaging idealism you can't get in touch
with your real self
you can't think of any solution of how
to get unstuck from the situation you're
in and start developing a plan to change
your life into a life which better
reflects yourself and gives you the
chance to realize your potential
number five
be honest about your capabilities
jung considers that
you are what you do
not what you say you'll do
as a psychoanalyst jung always saw
through his patience no matter what they
pretended to be
we are almost never who we pretend to be
what we do speaks for oneself much
louder than anything we communicate
verbally
the process of individuation which jung
wrote about implies aligning your
actions with your ideal about yourself
we're born with a self which needs a
lifetime to be brought to a full
realization
at the beginning of life we're not even
sure who we want to be
jung considered that the first stage of
life is dedicated to both ego
development and personal development the
image we show to the world
however we need the second stage as well
the stage when we should reach a full
integration of ourself
in the first stage you're not even sure
who you truly are so you just experiment
with different ways of living once you
reach about 40 the second stage begins
and you should get a much clearer idea
of who you really want to be and so you
should align all of your actions with
that image of yourself
even before this stage it's always good
practice to keep your word and have a
realistic view over your time limits and
skills and this view should be formed
according to your past experiences
if every time you studied for an exam
just the night before and you always got
a lousy mark maybe you shouldn't do that
next time if you want better marks
in the same way if your boss asked you
if you could do this task by tomorrow
don't rush to say yes
especially if you know that you're
really not that strong in that area and
it would be very likely that you'll need
the help of another colleague and that
it will take you much longer than a
well-practiced expert
if you fail in delivering your promises
repeatedly people will stop trusting you
and your words won't mean anything to
them anymore
it's okay at the beginning of life to
over promise and push your limits to
accomplish certain things
but there will be a time in your life
when you need to draw some conclusions
regarding your limits and you need to
align your promises according to those
conclusions
in our journey to reach our potential
it's important to face our limits which
can be considered as good indicators to
turn around and do other projects
instead
it's always better to be honest with
yourself first and with others regarding
your capabilities
it can help you enormously to find the
most appropriate path for you to achieve
your potential
the more honest you are regarding what
you can do and what you can't the faster
you can find those activities which you
can excel at with minimum effort
and the faster you can find your way to
achieve your potential
number six
make strengths from your
weaknesses jung stated
i regret many follies which sprang from
my obstinacy
but without that trait i would not have
reached my goal
in his book memories dream reflections
jung reflected on his life and how
different it could have been if he
himself was different
he considered himself being too
obstinate stubborn but at the same time
he acknowledged that without his
stubbornness he would not have reached
such successes in his life as he did
in some ways any weakness can prove to
be a strength if it's explored in the
right direction
perhaps outside the professional world
jung's obstinacy was wrongly placed but
in professional life this proved to be
the best tool to achieve success
as long as you are going through the
individuation process
your life would be for you as it should
be
jung believed that we all have a kind of
destiny which is strongly tied to our
personality and we should just follow it
wherever it takes us
the most important thing is to live in
harmony with ourself that is in a
continuous process of realization
don't criticize yourself for your
weaknesses
but rather think how they can help you
in certain areas of your life
make a list of all the things you're
criticized for and of how you can use
these bad traits in a useful way and
avoid using them where you shouldn't
for example let's say you're a very
sensitive person living more in your
imagination and others used to criticize
you for your lack of practical skills
that you don't even know how to fix a
common problem in your household
instead of fighting with yourself trying
to prove others wrong and focusing on
upgrading your practical skills you
should turn your focus to your creative
side towards your imagination
perhaps you can discover that there's a
great artist living inside you who just
needs the right tools to come out
perhaps you could be a great painter a
musician or a great writer
it's much better to work around your
skills and make sure they're directed in
the right way than to focus on fixing
your weaknesses
number seven
find a connection to the infinite
as we learn from young the decisive question for man is
is he related to something infinite or not that is the telling question of his life
although jung like to be viewed as
a man of science his work has deep
metaphysical implications
this is due to the fact that he could
see many of people's problems could be
solved if they were able to add a
metaphysical dimension to their life
it can be religion or another type of
spirituality when our life is understood in the
context of something bigger than
ourselves our life gets more meaning and
we start to feel more secure and happier
stronger to tackle life's problems
even if you're not religious or
particularly spiritual it's recommended
by jung to link your existence to
something infinite
perhaps you could think about the
universe and how everything is connected
coming from the same source including
every human being that has and will ever
exist
the effort you put into your work the
kindness you show to humans around you
can be reinforced by the thought that
you're part of this human species and
your life matters
you're one of the millions of forms
through which our species evolved and
continues to expand
looking at all the amazing advancements
of human civilizations can leave us
amazed and fascinated and we can feel
grateful that we're part of this human
civilization
some people can see the infinite in
their faith in god
some in the mysteries of the universe
some can see the infinite in their
children our successors who will
continue to expand human civilization
the infinite can be described as
anything which gives you a meaning
beyond your time limited existence
your connection to this infinite can
boost your desire to want to reach your
potential here on earth and give your
contribution to human society whatever
your primary reason might be
whether that's religious spiritual or
otherwise
number eight
make time for deep reflections
in our final quote from jung for this
video
he says
you must be alone to find out what
supports you when you find that you
cannot support yourself
jung has personally seen solitude as one
of the best ways to heal oneself and he
even said that solitude makes life worth
living
to find happiness and realize our
potential we need to live in harmony
with our inner demands and solitude is
the best occasion to discover what our
inner demands are
this is especially true when you face
difficulties in life and feel helpless
you should go into solitude to reflect
on what can give you meaning in life
what can support you emotionally and
what steps you should take next to
realize your true potential
maybe a stroll by the lake can make you
understand that life's beauty doesn't
rely on how many bucks you have in your
wallet or how many titles you hold but
on the happiness and the state of peace
you feel when you have most of your
affairs in order
that you perform in life those
activities which make you feel happy and
fulfilled helping you realize your
potential
think of what activities make you happy
don't hop back
imagine money was no object
what truly makes you happy
identify that and you're now free to
stop and think
to find ways to focus your energy on
those activities which help you realize
your potential
realizing your potential is a journey
and solitude can provide moments of
reflection that can help you assess how
far you are on this journey and what you
should do
to advance
more
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