Why you should know self-awareness
How awareness impacts your life and work
1. The Facts: What is self-awareness?
Self-awareness can be defined as the ability to understand one’s own mind and emotions, and to be able to distinguish between one’s own feelings and those of others. Self-awareness is a phenomenon that is present in all mammals. However, there are differences in degree and ability. For instance, a person of high self-awareness is more likely to be able to account for how emotions, thoughts, and motivations affect their behavior. This is why self-awareness is so important — it allows us to understand ourselves better, which in turn allows us to make more informed decisions.
Self-awareness is the capacity for introspection and the ability to recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals. In psychology, self-awareness is a crucial element of emotional intelligence. It is being aware of one’s own feelings, thoughts, and personality characteristics, as well as of the effect these attributes have on one’s behavior and on others. For example, self-awareness allows one to recognize the fact that one experiences hunger, while feeling hungry, knowing what caused the hunger, and knowing what one will do to satisfy the hunger.
2. The Feelings : How do you feel about it?
What is it that makes you , you? The answer to this question is not as easy as it seems. Science tells us that we are a result of our nature (i.e. the genes we inherit from our parents) and our nurture (i.e. the environment surrounding us during our growing up years). In essence, we are a combination of both our biology and our environment. When we look at ourselves, we see ourselves as a result of our nature and nurture. As a result, we feel like we are the way we are because of the way we were brought up and the things we have experienced during our lives. But what is it that makes us feel a certain way about life and the things around us? The answer lies in the system that determines our thoughts, feelings and actions. A system that is not just responsible for our personality but also for our likes and dislikes. A system that makes us unique. This system is called the “Emotional Brain”.
As a human being, you have a lot of thoughts and emotions going through your mind. It can be overwhelming if you are not able to keep them in check. Self-awareness helps you to recognize and understand your emotions. This can help you to manage them to the extent you can. Some of the ways that you can become self-aware are through meditation, journaling, and going to therapy. These things help you to be aware of your feelings and your thoughts.
Feelings are the hardest part of being human. It’s all too easy to be misunderstood, to feel alone, to feel that you are never enough. The truth is, we all have feelings and we all feel them, but we might not be good at showing them. We might not be good at listening to them either. While there is a time for logic, the truth is, most of the time, the answer to your question is already in your gut. We’re all going to die. We can spend our lives focused on how we’re going to die or we can spend our lives focused on how we’re going to live.
3. The Impact: How does it change what you do?
Let’s talk about the importance of self-awareness. What does it really mean? How does it impact your life and your work? Most people don’t realize how much their awareness of themselves impacts their lives outside of the awareness, but an outstanding awareness can often lead to conversions. Awareness (self-awareness) is the psychology behind making others happy. Imagine if you could instantly improve the way people perceive you by changing your body language or the way you talk? Yeah, you’re probably thinking: “these people are crazy!” But the fact is, consumers are quite capable of influencing a business by just thinking about it — something the “crazy” self-awareness designers know a lot about. It’s not just a buzzword though — awareness can be found in everything from how job interviewers communicate with candidates to how doctors treat their patients.
The term was coined by the Gestalt psychologist and professor of psychology, Jacob L. Moreno, who defined self-awareness as the “continuous and systematic process of maintaining an accurate understanding of one’s self and one’s relationship to the environment”. It is the ability to reflect upon one’s own thoughts and feelings, as well as to recognize them. It also involves knowing one’s strengths and weaknesses and understanding how these impact one’s interactions with others. It is the ability to understand one’s emotions in order to identify what one truly values. It is being able to define oneself and to understand one’s purpose. It is being able to describe one’s history, culture, and religion. It is being aware of the feelings of others and how they may be perceived by them. It is the ability to adapt to the changes that are going on around you. It is the process of discovering who you are.
4. The Plans: What is your plan for the future?
If you are like most people, you are not where you want to be. You don’t have the life that you envisioned for yourself. You don’t have the job that you imagined. You don’t have the bank account that you wanted. You don’t have the relationship you dreamed about. You don’t have the respect you desire. You are not as happy as you want to be. You are not as fit as you’d like to be. You don’t have the lifestyle that you want, or the money to support that lifestyle. You don’t have the freedom to do what you want with your life. You don’t even have the health that you want.
What do you hope to achieve in the future? How do you plan on getting there? What are the steps you need to take? How do you know you are doing so? These are all great questions that people ask themselves on a daily basis. It’s hard to get anywhere in life without a plan. And with a plan, it is much easier to get where you want to be. Yet, there are many people who are living life without having any idea of where they are going. Their actions are not being guided by any plan. They are just living. For some, this is okay. They may not care where they are going, as long as they are enjoying the ride along the way. But if you are one of those people who care about where they are going, then you should start working on a plan.
Conclusion
No one is perfect and self-awareness will be a part of your journey from this day on.
