The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-Awareness and Dealing with Complex Issues

February 25, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

A big part of practicing self-awareness is being able to examine the complexities in the world through thinking critically and considering issues from more than one perspective.

It’s easy to look at everything from one point of view, you just make a quick decision based on what you’ve always thought, but I prefer living in a world where things don’t always have an immediate answer.

A lot of people are afraid of dealing with complex issues like death or self-awareness, but it’s in those types of difficult topics that we discover the meaning of life. It’s simpler to subsist avoiding the deeper issues in life but we stay stuck at that level, which doesn’t lead to great meaning or fulfillment. I’ve found it far more productive to welcome ambiguity and discomfort and use them to learn and grow.

Life is full of complicated, uncomfortable, difficult situations, but you’ll be better able to deal with them if you understand who you really are at your core and are willing to use self-awareness to move forward positively.

What will you do to become more self-aware and deal with complex issues?

Cheers,

Guy

12 Examples of Self-Awareness

February 25, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Here are twelve examples of self-awareness:

You’re in touch with your feelings and comfortable with them.
You know who you are deep inside.
You’re not afraid to examine and work on resolving the difficult issues in your life.
You consistently work on improving your understanding of yourself.
You treat yourself and others kindly.
You’re living your dreams.
You behave consciously and mindfully.
You heal your hurts.
You feel like your life is genuinely meaningful and fulfilling.
You understand that self-awareness is an ongoing process.
You contribute positive things to the world that benefit as many people as possible.
You live authentically.

Self-awareness is a state of being where you deeply understand yourself and live based on who you really are deep inside. Each of the examples I’ve mentioned here are things you can work on starting today in order to help you live a happy life. All you have to do is decide to work on one of them and keep going until you’re good at it, then move on to the next item. Over time, you’ll develop your self-awareness.

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Helps You Find Your Purpose and Passion in Life

February 24, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-awareness can help you find your purpose and passion in life because, when you are in touch with your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, you can look deep inside yourself and discover the path that is most meaningful to you.

Here are some ideas on how to find your purpose and passion in life:

Decide that you’re going to think for yourself and make your own decisions about what you do in life.
Get professional help to heal your inner hurts so you can focus on the wonderful things about you.
Start the process of discovering who you are by looking deep inside. Ask yourself, “If I could do anything I wanted to in life, with no restrictions and without worrying about finances or what people and society tell me I should do, what would it be?” Be completely honest with yourself, be courageous. Don’t consider anything but what you truly want to do in life, what really speaks to you at your core or in your heart. Make sure that your answer is something having to do with your path in life, avoid things that force you to give up your power to someone or something else or that you do out of some sense of external duty or obligation. This is solely about you and what you genuinely want to do.
Write down the idea you come up with, this is your purpose and passion.
Take one small action to make your idea a reality.
Continue taking small actions until you have achieved your dream.

A big part of self-awareness is understanding that all that matters in life is being yourself, the real you, the person who lives deep in your heart and who has the courage to live intentionally and consciously.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and find your purpose and passion in life?

Cheers,

Guy

2 Self-Awareness Exercises

February 24, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-awareness refers to your ability to understand how your emotions, thoughts, and actions affect you, the people around you, and the world in general. Here are two self-awareness exercises to help you start getting to know yourself better:

The Writing about an Emotion Exercise

Sit in a comfortable, quiet area with paper and pen and think of some emotion that pops up in your life and causes you some kind of discomfort.
Name the emotion by using one of these four words: happiness, sadness, anger, fear.
Once you’ve named the emotion write it down.
Under the emotion write down three undesirable results that emotion has created in your life.
After each result you’ve written, jot down the actual results you’d like to see, the positive side of things.
Once you have the positives written down, pick one of the positives you’d like to work on and decide on one small thing you can do to make it happen.
Keep taking small actions to reach the positive result you would like.

This exercise works by encouraging you to focus consciously on what emotions you feel and to direct them in a positive direction instead of letting them run your life. The idea is to repeat this exercise for any emotion that is causing you discomfort. It builds self-awareness by asking you to carefully examine what you feel. At first, it will seem hard but, with practice, you’ll get good at repeating these steps.

The What I Did Exercise

Think of a time when you did something that hurt someone, write it down.
Write down how you feel about hurting that person.
Write down what they might have felt.
Write down ten positive things you could have done instead.
Picture the the scenario in your mind again and insert each of the alternatives into the scenario. Repeat the process through all ten positive alternatives.
Write down what you would do differently if that kind of situation arose in your life again.

This exercise encourages you to examine some action you did in the past that hurt another person and think about what you might have done differently. It raises your self-awareness by asking you to consider what you did and provide a positive alternative. It also asks you to think about other people’s perspectives and how they might have seen the event.

Try doing these two exercises a couple of times a week until they seem second nature. The idea is to continue becoming more self-aware by carefully examining what you feel, think, and do.

Cheers,

Guy

15 Characteristics of Emotional Intelligence Self-Aware People Are Familiar With

February 24, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

If you’re able to deal positively with your own emotions as well as other people’s, then you’re likely self-aware and emotionally intelligent. To illustrate more in depth, here are fifteen characteristics of emotional intelligence you can look for:

You’re familiar with the four basic emotions: happiness, fear, anger, and sadness.
You are able to identify what you’re feeling inside—you can name the emotion.
You’re comfortable feeling, dealing with, and managing your emotions, and other people’s.
You’re not afraid of your emotions, or other people’s.
You understand that emotions are a normal part of life.
You don’t try to avoid your emotions.
You use your emotions to enrich your life, making you a more well-rounded and healthy individual.
You can take care of your emotional self no matter how difficult your situation is.
You have good social skills.
You have empathy for others and what they’re going through.
You don’t let your emotions hurt others.
You don’t let fear and anger rule your life.
You’re kind to others.
You’re self-aware and understand how your thoughts, emotions, and actions affect you and others.
You feel good about yourself deep inside and live a genuinely happy life.

If you’ve ever met a highly self-aware and emotionally intelligent person, you know that it’s a pleasure to be around them because they feel great about themselves and help you feel the same way about yourself. The good news is that anyone can become emotionally intelligent, it just takes practice.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and emotional intelligence?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware People Know What Emotional Intelligence Is

February 23, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

What is emotional intelligence? You know that feeling you get inside when you encounter an emotion and you’re able to experience it fully without falling apart? That’s what it is. Self-aware people know what emotional intelligence is because they are in touch with what’s going on inside themselves and how it affects what they do each day.

You are a human being that has emotions. In an ideal world, you would deal with or manage your emotions so that they always lead in a positive direction, but that doesn’t always happen because you likely haven’t been taught what to do when you or others feel things that are scary or uncomfortable.

You were raised in a certain way and move in circles that tell you what role emotions should have on your life. The problem is that the information you get about how to feel things may be fatally flawed.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and effectively deal with or manage your emotions when they arise, and do the same for others. It means you’re an emotionally stable person who isn’t afraid of feeling things or interacting with people when they’re experiencing their own emotions.

As you continue your journey through life you’ll find that it will benefit you greatly to learn how to manage your emotions in a positive way. What will you do to develop self-awareness and emotional intelligence?

Cheers,

Guy

5 Quick Ways Self-Aware Leaders Improve Their Workplaces

February 23, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

I help leaders improve their workplaces through thinking and behaving in positive ways, starting with increasing self-awareness. Sadly, I see a lot of practices that lead in the opposite direction. It’s amazing how much time and effort many leaders spend doing things that don’t work simply because they’ve never done it any other way. Most leaders mean well and want to create happy workplaces but lack self-awareness and just haven’t found out how to do it yet. Here are five quick ways to improve your workplace starting today.

1. Praise Employees

Start praising your employees today for the work they do well and they’ll be much more likely to repeat the behavior and want to do other things.

2. Start Listening

Listen to what your employees say without jumping in or offering advice and you’ll have access to richer and more complete information so you can make better decisions.

3. Don’t Micromanage

Step back and let your employees do their thing. Don’t offer unsolicited advice but be there for them if they ask for help.

4. Be Kind

Behave kindly, treat people well, appreciate everyone and do things that build employees up so they feel great about themselves.

5. Interview Your Employees

Find out what the talents and abilities are of each of your employees. Use this knowledge to work with them to find ways they can do work that fits what they enjoy doing.

Try these five ideas starting today and you will notice that your workplace will become a more enjoyable environment. There’s no magic to this process, you’re simply building a foundation based on valuing employees and encouraging them to do a great job.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and improve your workplace?

Cheers,

Guy