The Role of Self-Knowledge in Improving Our Lifestyle

We believe that we know ourselves perfectly and do not feel any need to gain self-knowledge; we choose our lifestyle based on this belief. In reality, we do not feel the need to know ourselves or do not think over the criteria for self-knowledge just because we have incomplete knowledge about a part of our being. The evidence is our constant trying to live a better life, but feeling less calm and happy.

Sometimes, we fail in or feel regret about many of our decisions and relationships.  We work for years to live in comfort, become wealthy, gain knowledge, get a job, and start a family. However, we never find inner peace. All these failures arise from the fact that we do not know ourselves correctly; we adjust our lifestyle according to the false knowledge that we have about ourselves and our needs.

In this section, we will discuss self-knowledge and its effect on lifestyle. We will also address these questions:

• Is there such a thing as the ‘right lifestyle’?
• How does our choice of lifestyle affect our happiness and inner peace?

Lifestyle

Since we all love ourselves, we try hard to live a calm, happy life where we can enjoy infinite joy and bliss. To this end, we do all we can to use the best means and methods. Our lifestyle is a reflection of those means and methods which, we believe, can bring us happiness and give us the sweet and successful life we deserve. In other words, our habits and behaviors are affected by the beliefs and values which we have found in accordance with our character and accepted them as the dominant aspect of our lives.

The answers you give to the following questions will reveal your lifestyle to some extent:

• What kind of clothes do you wear?
• What type of car do you like to drive?
• What kind of neighborhood do you prefer to live in?
• How important are reading and exercise in your daily life?
• What items do you usually buy?
• How do you spend your money?
• Do you usually share your personal life on social media?
• How often do you travel or have interaction with your family members or the people of the society?
• How much is the role of spirituality in your life?
• How much do you follow the political issues of your society?

As you see, all our behaviors, decisions, and even the way we speak about these topics express our lifestyle, the lifestyle which we hold to be right and bring us joy and peace.

Many policymakers use the lifestyle of their people to develop economic, political, scientific, and moral policies. Knowing a society’s lifestyle provides valuable information for building up relations in economic competition and foreign policies; it also provides grounds for friendship or enmity between different countries.

On what basis is the true lifestyle defined, and how is it related to self-knowledge?

The Relation Between Lifestyle and Self-Knowledge

Stepping in the path of self-knowledge reveals our true dignity and true value. Self-knowledge prevents us from giving in to any demand or adopting any kind of lifestyle without investigation. Our lifestyle is a set of criteria and values which are acceptable to us. We weigh any suggestion that comes our way according to its similarity to our beliefs; we accept only those suggestions which lie within the circle of our values and do not go against our dignity and true worth. Obviously, we adjust our lifestyle and ways of interaction in a way that not only keeps our dignity but also acts in our best interest in every aspect of life.

It is the level of self-knowledge which determines what human dignity is. It also tells us where our interest lies, and how we can achieve success in all areas of life. If we do not know who we are, where we came from, where we will go, and what we want from our lives, and if we do not know our talents, abilities, potentials, opportunities, and means to achieve our true goal, we will definitely never experience peace and happiness. It is actually the way we define ourselves and believing it that determine our value. And then we will form our lifestyle according to that attitude.

If we think our dignity lies in our gender, education, marriage, children, career, income, and social positions such as professorship, leadership, ranks, and ultimately death, then we will adjust our lifestyle according to these goals; we will think that only achieving these goals can benefit us and add to our value. So we will manage our lives to fulfill these values or achievements. Indeed, if we fail to reach any of these goals, we will find life bitter and absurd. Therefore, the first step in adopting the right lifestyle is knowing our ‘self.’

Are We Calm and Happy?

Peace and happiness are directly related to self-knowledge. When we get to know the ‘self’ with all its true needs and demands, we will choose the right goals and the right ways to achieve them.

Sadness and anxiety, which hold us back from reaching our goals, are the consequences of wrong decisions and relationships. We make wrong decisions when we do not know ourselves and our true needs. When we know our true value and organize our way of life based on that, we will never feel anxious and never regret our decisions and relationships. By adopting a right and everlasting lifestyle, we can decide how we should live. We can also make honorable decisions which are defensible in the entire course of our lives.

For more on this, see “How to Live a Happy and Peaceful Life with Self-Knowledge.”