Francesco Petrarc

Man Has No Greater Enemy Than Himself

Think about it. Whenever you want to try something new, make a dream come true or achieve a goal, who is the first person to tell you that you're not good enough, that you don't have what it takes, that you're going to fail. Is it your parents? Is it your siblings? Friends? Cousins? Neighbors? No, the first person who's going to try to drag you back to your comfort zone is yourself. But what happens when you turn this so called "greatest enemy" into an ally? What happens when you turn this foe into an friend?

How Am I My Own Enemy?

If you look throughout history, you'll notice that most of the world leaders, scientists, artists, poets, and wealthy individuals spend a lot of time alone. These greats understand the power of silence and solitude. When noise is absent, creativity flourishes.

Learn From The Greats

They do a lot of different activities that helps them connect and understand themselves and the world around them. I've tried a few of these activities over the years, some of them didn't help me much while others did wonders for me. Here are three activities I do alone and how they changed my life.

So What Exactly Do These Great People Do In Solitude?

My expectations were low when I started journaling to be honest. But soon I realized that writing down my thoughts on a piece of paper has a lot of benefits. Journaling basically means taking the thoughts from your head and putting them in the real world. This helped me look at things from a different perspective. I also started writing down self-reflective questions like "How am I feeling right now? What's causing me to feel this way? What makes me worried? What makes me grateful?" The more questions I asked, the more answers I got and the more I learned about myself.

1. Journaling

Aside from being a great habit to improve your physical health, walking can help improve your mental health immensly. Whenever I have free time, I'd go for long walks, look at the trees, animals, buildings and people while having a conversation with myself. It helped me become more self-aware of my emotions and senses. It also helped me solve many problems in my life. You have no idea how many important life decisions I made while I was walking. It's weird, but sometimes I miss going for a walk alone and letting my brain wander.

2. Walking

Of course reading books is something successful people do. It's a no-brainer. You can ask Google Assistant to tell you a random fact however many times you want but it'll never be as beneficial as reading a good book. Books can change the way you think about life and help you learn things about yourself that you've never known before. Besides, isn't reading books much better than spending hours on TikTok and reducing your attention span?

3. Reading Books

From meditation to writing stories. From drawing to simply sitting and letting your mind wander. Those were my top 3 but the truth is, the options are limitless. You just have to find the activity that suits you. Find one that helps you connect with that stranger that is yourself. Only then will you unlock your full potential.

There Are Many Other Ways To Connect With Yourself

I've spent the past few years learning how to build a good relationship with myself. In these ideas, you'll find some of the different activities I've tried that helped me connect with myself.

Connect With Yourself

Omer Ash