Awareness of Emotions

Self-Awareness and Reducing Workplace Conflict

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When you have a high degree of self-awareness you’re able to reduce workplace conflict by being part of the solution rather than instigating or perpetuating it. Here are some characteristics you likely possess if you’re a person who lessens conflict:

  • You view conflict as an opportunity for everyone to get on the same page and win.
  • You understand that conflict is a signal that something needs attention.
  • You know what triggers conflict inside you and are able to manage it.
  • You consciously decide to think, feel and behave positively when conflict arises.
  • You make it easier to find solutions to the conflict.
  • You act in good faith.
  • You don’t perpetuate the conflict by taking sides.
  • You’re not followed by conflict wherever you go.
  • You don’t need to prove anything.
  • You don’t have to be on top of people.

The more you know yourself the less conflict you invite into your life because, when you’re happy with who you are, you tend to do things that help others do the same instead of perpetuating behaviors that cultivate conflict. What will you do to reduce the amount of conflict in your workplace?

Cheers,

Guy

Many People Lack Self-Awareness, Are You One of Them?

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I love facilitating self-awareness workshops where I encourage people to take a deeper look at themselves, and that can have a few different outcomes, from individuals being genuinely happy about learning more about themselves, to others feeling genuinely upset about having to examine who they really are. People are used to presenting a carefully fabricated version of what kind of person they are and what they do.

It’s not rare for someone in one of my workshops to claim that she is a kind, fair, inspiring leader and then describe all manner of hideous behaviors that she perpetrates on others. This is a sure sign of a lack of self-awareness, the inability to see how your thoughts, emotions and behaviors affect you and others.

It’s hard to take a candid look at yourself and start the process of building self-awareness. It requires the courage to look at the things in your life that aren’t going so well and doing something to change them. Thankfully, as you get to know who you really are, you’ll develop the ability to heal your hurts and strengthen yourself so that you can live a happier, more fulfilling life.

People don’t really misunderstand self-awareness, they just choose not to look at themselves. If you consciously decide to explore who you are, you’ll learn amazing things about yourself and find that life is much more meaningful when you live it honestly and genuinely. What will you do to increase your self-awareness?

Cheers,

Guy

10 Ways Self-Awareness Can Improve Your Life

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The whole point of getting to know yourself is to move past reacting unconsciously to whatever comes your way to being mindful of what you’re feeling, thinking, and doing. Here are ten ways self-awareness can improve your personal and professional life:

  1. You’re able to feel the entire range of your emotions and deal with them positively.
  2. You understand yourself well and are genuinely comfortable with who you are; not just pretending you are so you don’t look weak.
  3. You’ve worked out the negative issues from your childhood and formative years.
  4. You have a consistent pattern of thinking and behavior where all the areas of your life relate well to each other and aren’t in conflict.
  5. You do things that help make the world a better place, not just that benefit you and the people in your immediate social and professional circles.
  6. You’re able to empathize with other people; their joys, struggles, and day-to-day lives.
  7. You feel so good about yourself that other people aren’t a threat and you don’t have a need to compete with them or defeat them in any way.
  8. You build other people up instead of tearing them down.
  9. You feel like your life has a deeper meaning that comes from within you, not from the outside.
  10. You live life as the real you; following your dreams and doing what you really want to do in life.

When you possess self-awareness you’ll be actively working on issues like these at all times and continually discovering more about yourself. The goal is simple: Live a happy life, spread good vibes, and make the world a better place for as many people as possible. How has self-awareness improved your life?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and the Tough Love Myth

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When you have a high level of self-awareness you tend to stay away from treating other people harshly, as in the so-called “Tough Love” approach to parenting, leadership or any other interaction where you’re trying to correct someone else’s undesirable or out of control behavior. Tough Love is practiced by millions and looks like this:

  • Inability to empathize with the other person’s situation.
  • Unnecessarily harsh or punitive approach to correcting behavior.
  • Resorting to punishment as first option.
  • Not connecting meaningfully with the other person.
  • Lack of listening.
  • Lack of patience.
  • Short-term thinking versus a long-term strategy.
  • Relying on ultimatums.
  • Dictatorial, telling someone what to do from the outside.

The perplexing thing about Tough Love is that there are so many other, more positive, ways to treat people, for example:

  • Empathizing with the other person.
  • Finding other options besides harsh behavior or punishment.
  • Negotiation and collaboration before punishment.
  • Building positive relationships.
  • Listening often and actively.
  • Being patient.
  • Interacting with people to build healthy, long-term relationships.
  • Realizing that change is an ongoing process.
  • Trusting and encouraging people to come up with their own solutions.

It’s really easy to make someone’s life miserable by punishing them, but it takes much more imagination and skill to encourage them to gain the insight necessary to overcome an obstacle. When you possess self-awareness, you have a choice as to how you interact with others regardless of how difficult their behavior or situation is: You can be kind, empathic, and resourceful, or rigid and draconian. Which approach will you choose?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Being Happy

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One of the most important reasons to increase your self-awareness is so you can be happy. There are a lot of people walking around who insist they’re happy but who really are hiding a lot of turmoil just under the surface. Being happy means that the various parts of your life are in balance rather than conflict or tension. It’s nearly impossible to feel genuine happiness if you have areas of your life that always remind you that all is not well.

A big part of self-awareness is working on your warts by taking an honest look at yourself. Heal the parts of you that create tension in your life and you’ll be able to feel joy like never before. It may be difficult or painful at first, but the long-term rewards are immense. What will you do to use self-awareness to be more happy?

Cheers,

Guy

10 Benefits of Self-Awareness

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Self-awareness offers many benefits to help you live a happier, more fulfilling and genuine life:

  1. The ability to act consciously instead of reacting to people and events.
  2. The ability to genuinely love yourself.
  3. Being authentically happy rather than pretending you are.
  4. Greater depth of experience and enjoyment of life.
  5. The ability to redirect your negative thoughts and emphasize positive ones.
  6. Behaving positively instead of creating additional obstacles.
  7. Enjoying positive interpersonal relationships.
  8. Being the real you.
  9. Living courageously and without limits.
  10. The ability to make your dreams come true.

What would your life look like if you did all these ten things on a regular basis? Self-awareness is a powerful tool to help you live the life you’ve always wanted rather than settling for whatever comes your way. What will you do to live a more conscious life?

Cheers,

Guy

Advantages of Self-Awareness

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I’m often asked what are the advantages of self-awareness. It’s almost impossible to overestimate the impact self-awareness can have on someone’s life, here are some of the advantages I’ve noticed through years of working with people and organizations over the years:

  • An ability to understand one’s own thoughts, feelings, and actions and manage them positively.
  • Understanding why other people think, feel, and act the way they do.
  • Ability to empathize and practice compassion toward others.
  • Identifying your strengths and areas for improvement.
  • Living your life more authentically because you understand who you really are deep inside.
  • Thinking and behaving more positively because you’ve worked through your stuff.
  • Being more open to new information, experiences, and change.
  • Choosing positive friends and significant others.
  • Being a better leader at work because you’re not working out your issues on others.
  • Feeling more balanced and together.
  • A sense of deeper understanding of yourself and your path in life.
  • A more meaningful and fulfilling life.

There’s no mystery to self-awareness, it’s simply a tool that helps you know so much about yourself that you literally become a happier, more effective human being which, in turn, positively affects you and the people around you. When you possess self-awareness you tap into a stream of consciousness and knowledge that helps you treat yourself and others better, as well as allowing you to make the world a better place. What would you add to this list?

Cheers,
Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy