How do we plan our life if we don't know our personality?

So you think you consciously control all of your actions? If you say yes then you'll deluded and good luck to you. If no, then how do you think your actions are controlled and what are you doing to become more informed?

As a professional coach and consultant I've attended many self-development (some may say self help) seminars including Tony Robbins, Landmark and NLP in London and New York. The basic aim of these programs are so you can fulfill your potential, your dreams and move forward not based on the past - whatever that may be. But what I have seen, like many of our new year resolutions, is that out of sight is out of mind and after time out of the programs we resort back to our old habits. Funny thing habits....humans know they are often not right for us but damn they are comforting because they are familar.

However one thing we, humans, are not very aware of is that of ourselves, our personality, motivations, behaviour patterns etc. Many of us go through life doing things, making plans that we have no basis to say for certain that they will be achieved. Humans are constantly faced with hindsight..."if only I had done this or that" but do they truly ask themselves why they didn't follow through? Do they ask why after attending a self help or development seminar such as Robbins or Landmark that the feeling, the results don't keep occurring? I do recognize that for some people, and I'll say a small percentage of all event attendees, that life changes are made permanent. This, I would hypothesize, is that they were at the right point in their lives and they shared a similar disposition to the seminar leader.

Many of us though cannot move forward unless we know where we are and the vehicle we are using to get to our destination. Not knowing who you are and where you are is like trying to predict how long it will take you to travel (for example) to Sydney, Australia not knowing where you currently are and whether you'll have to drive, walk, fly, boat etc.

Each person's journey is different and starts at a different place and moves at different speeds. You cannot assume that you can take the same path as your neighbour, colleague or friend. So make the effort to know yourself and design your own life path.