“We are unknown to ourselves, we men of knowledge–and with good reason. We have never sought ourselves–how could it happen that we should ever find ourselves? . . . So we are necessarily strangers to ourselves, we do not comprehend ourselves, we have to misunderstand ourselves, for us the law “Each is furthest from himself” applies to all eternity–we are not “men of knowledge” with respect to ourselves.”

-Nietzsche

Have you heard of the Johari Window? If not, you may be in trouble.

I am a philosopher at heart, and one of the biggest and most fascinating mysteries in philosophy is the self.  Why is it that we can know so much about our friends, family, and enemies – yet rarely are we certain about ourselves?  We’ve all seen the fools on American Idol that think they can sing, the infatuated couples that believe they’ve found their soul mate in a bar, and the so-called entrepreneurs that squander their money and time on multi-level marketing scams.  Why do they not see their faults as plainly as the rest of the world does?

The Blind Spot

While I am not going to go into the details of the Johari Window (I don’t feel that it is effective for the most part), there is one quadrant that is crucial to overall success: the Blind Spot.  Essentially, the Blind Spot is the traits and skills that you have that others can see, but you can’t.  In order to leverage or avoid these particular characteristics of ourselves, we are forced to rely on the observations of others.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of people completely ignore those who care enough about them to offer advice and constructive criticism.  Granted, we have to adjudicate the opinions of others, but sometimes they may be correct.

So what’s the point?

The point is that if we are going to invest our time, effort, and/or money into something important to us (especially into a business), it would be wise to heed the advice of others when it comes knowing our character.  Although many may warn us about the dangers of starting a business venture (and they are often wrong), their observations can sometimes help us to avoid a tragic mistake.

Related articles that you may like:

• 10 Tips For Overcoming Critics To Build Your Business (davidrisley.com)
• So You Want My Job: Entrepreneur (artofmanliness.com)
• Episode #17: Should You Have a Business Partner? (prosulum.com)