Knowingyourselfmeansnotonlythatyoufindoutwhatyou'regoodatandwhatyoulike,italsomeansdiscoveringwhatyou'renotgoodatandwhatyoudon'tlike.Bothhelpyoutoseeyourgoalinlife.

Althoughmoststudentswouldbeunhappyiftheyfoundthattheyhadfailedanadvancedmathcourse,theyhaveactuallylearnedagreatdealaboutthemselves.Theyknowtheyshouldnotbecomeengineersorphysicalscientistsandthattheywouldnotbeboodataccountingwork.Sofailingcanhelpastudenttoleadamuchhappierlifeifheorshedrawstherightconclusionfromthefailing.Theymaythendecideontheirgoalandchoosethekindofworktheywouldliketodo.

Itisimpossibletodecidewhertherornotyoulikesomethinguntilyouhavetriedit.Ifyoudecidethatyouwouldlidetoplaytheviolin,youneedtitakemorethanonelessonbeforeyoucnaknowwhetheryouhaveanyinterestorability.

It'snotenoughtowanttobeagreatviolinist.Youalsohavetolikethehardandlongtrainingbeforeyoubecomeone.Ifyouwouldenjoybeingagreatviolinistbuthatethework,forgetit.

It'sagoodplantotryasmanyideasaspossiblewhenyouarestillyoung.Andthenyouwillcometoawisedecision.