Socrates says... (cue Bill and Ted...)

Self-knowledge helps.  I know, for example, that if I really want to get something done, I need to do it first thing or suddenly the whole day will be gone, spent in little, less-important tasks.  I know that my ability to resist less-healthy food goes down over the course of the day; if I’m going to allow myself a treat, I had better save it for later in the day or suddenly one treat might become several.

Easily said.  But where does the self-knowledge come from?  Paying attention.  We need to go a little Harriet the Spy on ourselves, observe our behavior.  Keeping track of what we see can help to sort out what was a one-time thing and what turns out to be a pattern.

We may turn out to be people with an unexpected love of dancing, or folks who will walk for hours if there are shop windows to check out, but whose feet ache the second step into the forest.  We can’t know until we look.  And when we know who we are, we can figure out who we want to be.