"Know yourself" -- what it means:

It's amazing to me how much real insight about life is coming from business books and business schools these days.

In Management Challenges for the 21st Century, Pete Drucker, probably the most influential thinker on the subject of management, says to be successful throughout your entire work life — one that will likely span numerous jobs, multiple industries, and wholly different careers — it all comes down to knowing yourself.

And knowing yourself, in terms of achieving what you want in life, means knowing your strengths.

But the reason I like Drucker is because he doesn't stop there or just bury you in self-help platitudes. He gives a definition:

What are you good at that consistently produces desired results?

It's not necessarily what you enjoy or what a test says you have aptitude for, it's the things you do that result in crossing the proverbial finish line.

These are your strengths. Other research I've posted shows they're tightly tied to happiness andfulfilling work.

You need to know what your strengths are to make the right choices.

The operational definition of mastery:

Knowing what you're good at that consistently produces desired results