If “awareness” is about noticing stuff in the world, “self-awareness” is about focusing your awareness on yourself. It involves being aware of your feelings, physical sensations, reactions, habits, behaviours, and thoughts. It’s the ability of seeing yourself clearly and objectively through introspection and reflection.
I like to put it this way: self-awareness is about being brutally honest with yourself.
Practicing self-awareness does not come without benefits: Consider the following:
· It can make us more proactive, boost our acceptance, and encourage positive self-development (Sutton, 2016).
· Self-awareness allows us to see things from the perspective of others, practice self-control, work creatively and productively, and experience pride in ourselves and our work, as well as in our overall self-esteem (Silvia & O’Brien, 2004).
· It leads to better decision-making (Ridley, Schutz, Glanz, & Weinstein, 1992).
· It can make us better at our jobs, better communicators in the workplace, and enhance our self-confidence and job-related wellbeing (Sutton, Williams, & Allinson, 2015).
Self-awareness can enhance virtually every experience you have. It’s a tool and a practice that can be used to ground yourself in the moment, realistically evaluate yourself, and help you make good choices.
Being more aware of yourself can also help you identify your starting point in your transformation journey. Sadly, not everyone’s invested in improving their self-awareness.
Why Do People Neglect Investing in Self-Awareness?
There are different reasons why people would brush off the need to improve their self-awareness:
1) People have different childhood experiences, which have negatively influenced how they view themselves. As a result, some people are uncomfortable or unfamiliar with self-awareness improvement practices.
2) Denial is another example. Traumatic experiences may have discouraged a person to learn more about themselves. They might also deny some aspects of their authenticity that don’t seem to get approval from other people. Denial serves as a coping mechanism.
3) Finally, there’s fear. We do not want to confront our own story because we fear of feeling bad about it.
How Do You Go Through the Different Stages of Awareness?
1. Visualize success. WE NEED to see our success. When you see what you want, you are more motivated to finish your journey of self-discovery. When you can visualize your success, you’ll have a clearer map towards it.
2. Understand your Thoughts and Feelings. Self-awareness requires you to assess all thoughts and feelings affecting your choices and decisions.
4. Brutal Honest Self-Inventory. You are your greatest critic. List down everything you think you need to improve on and don’t hold back. Once you complete your list, continue to move forward and upward.
5. Practice failing. You will fail at some point. Failure is the foundation of the greatest people in the world. I have a list of inspiring people who have succeeded despite failing in the past, and I always refer to them for inspiration.
I could account for this journey. When I started my business four years ago, I sent countless proposals to people who might want my services. It was tempting to lie and fabricate a list of clients to prove my expertise and experience.
But I knew that lying will not please God. This sin will not allow me to prosper. If I keep myself humble and allow God to work, clients will come in in his proper time. Every rejection pushes me to practice speaking. I continued to develop my skills and believed that I could improve.
If you want to improve your life or your company, believe that you can improve and be better. Never give up and continue to strive. Awareness starts from the mind. Remind yourself daily of this: I will open my mind and my heart to become a better version of me.
Let Us Help You In Your Journey
Radiance can help you achieve a better version of yourself through our Extraordinary Confidence online course. This 21-day program is designed to help participants discover who
they are and how they can love who they truly are. We talk about your identity and proper ways to improve your self-awareness.
