NATURE of Y.O.U.

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Dr Zannah Hackett, One of Thousands of Relationship Coaches on Noomii.

“Imagine, just for a moment…”

You are a primitive human being standing at the edge of a vast ocean.

There are no books. No phones. No internet. No experts telling you what to think. You haven’t even developed a sophisticated spoken language with which to explain what you see or how you feel.

There is simply you, and the physical world before you.

To survive, you must observe.

You notice the direction of the wind. The movement of the water. The changing sky. The behavior of animals. The rustling of trees. You learn when to advance and when to retreat; what is safe and what represents danger. You become exquisitely sensitive to your surroundings because understanding them matters.

Now slowly fast-forward through time.

Language develops. Civilization expands. Knowledge accumulates. Words give us an extraordinary ability to communicate, educate, persuade, inspire and influence.

But something else happens along the way.

Words become interpretations. Interpretations become beliefs. Beliefs become expectations. And gradually, we can become so influenced by what we are “told” that we forget to observe what is actually standing directly in front of us.

We begin looking outside ourselves for answers to questions that may first require us to look within.

Our earliest ancestors didn’t have that luxury. Their survival depended upon their ability to pay attention. Nature was their classroom. Observation was their teacher. Their own physical responses provided information.

Perhaps, in our pursuit of progress, we have allowed some of that natural intelligence to become quieter.

“What if it isn’t gone? What if we’ve simply forgotten how to listen to it?”

For more than a decade, my research, supported by the observations and contributions of professionals working with human behavior, has explored a deceptively simple question:

“What can we learn about ourselves by returning to the obvious?”

We often call this obvious understanding “common sense.” Yet common sense isn’t always very common anymore. We filter what we observe through opinions, expectations, experiences, labels, theories, and the enormous amount of information competing for our attention.

The challenge became finding a language through which we could once again discuss natural human differences without immediately assigning judgment to them.

We affectionately refer to it as “so old it’s new again” knowledge.

It became “The Knowledge of Y.O.U., Your Own Understanding.”

The premise is beautifully simple: before asking “who” you have learned to become, perhaps we should first understand “what” nature gave you to work with.

How does nature show up in you?

What environments support you?

What naturally drains you?

How do you respond to people, places, and things?

What are you inclined to tolerate, and what requires considerably more energy?

How do your natural characteristics influence the way you navigate relationships, responsibilities, challenges, and opportunities?

When we begin understanding ourselves from this perspective, behaviors that once seemed confusing can take on new meaning. Differences don’t automatically have to become deficiencies. Frustration can become information. Judgment can give way to curiosity.

And self-awareness gives us something enormously valuable: “choice.”

The Ultimate Life Tool® was developed to help individuals explore this dimension of themselves. Rather than telling someone who they should be, the process is intended to provide another lens through which they can examine how their own nature may be showing up in everyday life.

Because perhaps our primitive ancestors understood something we have made unnecessarily complicated.

They paid attention to what nature was telling them.

They adapted.

They learned.

And they survived.

Modern life is obviously far more complex, but the invitation remains remarkably similar: observe what is happening, understand what you are working with, and make choices from greater clarity rather than simply following the noise around you.

Thousands of years ago, the ancient Greek maxim offered remarkably concise advice:

“Know Thyself.”

Perhaps today we might add:

“Know your nature. Understand your differences. Trust what you discover.”

That is the invitation behind “The Knowledge of Y.O.U., Your Own Understanding” and The Ultimate Life Tool®.

Because sometimes moving forward requires rediscovering something we knew long ago.

“The answer may not always be somewhere ahead of us. Sometimes, it has been within us all along.”