Awareness of Emotions

Self-Awareness and Being Sensitive

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A lot of people who are labeled sensitive go through life being mocked or belittled for having an extraordinary way of looking at the world. Being sensitive simply means that you have the self-awareness to be in touch with deeper feelings and are able to experience things more intensely and fully.

Being a sensitive person requires a lot of courage because you’ll likely feel things that others are afraid of, don’t want to deal with, or will never get close to experiencing. That’s what makes you unique and wonderful, the ability to examine yourself and the world around you and feel things that are important to anyone who wants to live with self-awareness.

As a highly sensitive person, I feel things in my heart; literally like a flooding sensation in my chest. I’m tuned into what others are thinking and feeling even when they aren’t. There have been times in my life when I was told to squelch these feelings and it made me feel horrible about myself. Luckily, as I kept building my self-awareness, I realized that I could actually be myself and make a career of it, which allowed me to live a meaningful, happy life.

What will you do to increase your self-awareness and be a sensitive person?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Your Perspective

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Perspective affects everything you do in life. For example: A person in Bangladesh living in complete poverty can be very happy while a person in an affluent neighborhood in the United States can be miserable. Your level of self-awareness affects your perspective on life because, when you’re comfortable with your thoughts, feelings and behaviors, you’re able to maintain a positive outlook.

Perspective is the way you see the world based on your self-awareness and personal experiences. If you filter out the positive, you tend to focus on the things that aren’t going well. If you filter out the negative, you’re better able to see the beneficial side of things. A great example of perspective is found in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Tiny Tim doesn’t have use of his legs but he doesn’t wallow in self pity, he forges on and is a source of strength for his family.

You’re faced with important choices throughout your life. At any moment you can choose your perspective and that will lead you down a certain path. Try this simple exercise: The next time you feel you can’t overcome an obstacle, consciously tell yourself, “I can handle this,” or some other positive affirmation. This will help you shift from a negative to a positive perspective.

It’s amazing what can happen when you choose a perspective that gives you the power to move forward rather than staying stuck. What will you do to view the world from a positive perspective?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Healing Your Hurts

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Self-awareness helps you begin healing your hurts by encouraging you to take a conscious look at the things that bring you discomfort in life and that need some attention. Many people walk through life carrying some unresolved pain that keeps them from being a genuinely happy, expansive person. It’s impossible to live fully or authentically if you allow certain memories to hold you back. The good news is that you can use self-awareness to examine who you are and deal with the challenges from your past.

Healing your hurts isn’t easy because you have to revisit parts of your life that may be unpleasant. The key to successfully moving past the pain is to acknowledge it’s there and do everything in your power to resolve it and move past it. Once you understand and deal with the thoughts and emotions related to difficult issues, you provide yourself a new opportunity to live based on the wonderful things about you rather than being held back by the pain. What will you do to use self-awareness to start healing your hurts?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and The Big Mouth

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People who lack self-awareness have no idea what’s coming out of their mouths and they’ll say things that reveal their inner thoughts and get them in trouble at work and at home. We see examples of this all around us when people make sexist, racially tinged or other inappropriate or clumsy comments because they have limited understanding of how their statements might affect others. It happens a lot in the workplace when leaders trample on their employees or hurt them in some way without realizing that there are other options.

A major element of self-awareness is the ability to practice effective communication, as in, thinking before you speak and, more importantly, being as healthy a person as you possibly can be so that you understand how not to step on others. Here are some tips to heal a case of big mouth:

  • Listen more than you talk.
  • Think before you speak.
  • Resist the urge to say the first thing that comes to your mind.
  • Ask yourself how your words might be perceived by others.
  • If you think what you have to say might be offensive, it will likely be.
  • Clarify what’s going on by asking open-ended questions.
  • Ask people for feedback.
  • Watch people’s facial expressions and reactions.
  • Choose to step outside yourself and consider others’ feelings.
  • Think of a kind way of saying things.
  • Say things that build people up.
  • Monitor your own body language and reactions.

When you practice these behaviors you’ll run a far smaller risk of finding a foot lodged in your mouth and you’ll build a more compassionate and respectful workplace. You’ll also save time and effort because you won’t have to deal with the misunderstandings or conflicts that arise when the message is clouded by extraneous elements. What will you do to make sure you’re communicating effectively, kindly and compassionately?

Cheers,

Guy

Increase Your Self-Esteem through Self-Awareness

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You can increase your self-esteem by developing your self-awareness. For example, you’ll be a more confident, courageous person when:

  • You know who you are deep inside.
  • You know what you want in life.
  • You follow your passions.
  • You live authentically.
  • Your thoughts, feelings and behaviors are positive.
  • You have healthy boundaries.
  • You value yourself because you know how amazing you are.
  • You steer clear of people who try to sabotage your progress.
  • You genuinely like yourself.

When you do these types of things you feel better about yourself. A lot of people encounter unnecessary difficulties and heartaches in life because they move away from who they really are deep inside. The more self-awareness you possess, the more you’ll enjoy life as the real you and the happier you’ll be. What will you do to keep increasing your self-esteem?

Cheers,

Guy

The Beauty Arising from Self-Awareness

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When you lack self-awareness you’re more likely to live in a confusing, contradictory, uncertain world where things don’t make sense and beauty is less prevalent. Countless people live this way and pretend it’s normal rather than seeking a more fulfilling, balanced existence. You can choose to move toward inner and outer beauty or away from it, as in the following examples.

If you don’t possess self-awareness you:

  • Lack self-knowledge.
  • Live an inauthentic life.
  • Experience a lot of cognitive dissonance.
  • Have various parts of your mind not talking to each other.
  • Live unconsciously, reacting to your environment.
  • Are not in touch with your feelings.
  • Are superficially happy.
  • Miss much of the beauty in the world around you and inside you.

If you possess a high level of self-awareness you:

  • Understand yourself in a healthy way.
  • Live life based on your innate talents, passions and interests.
  • Think and behave in consistently positive ways.
  • Have the various parts of your mind in sync.
  • Live consciously, deliberately and mindfully.
  • Are in touch with your feelings.
  • Are deeply happy due to living meaningfully.
  • Live a life of inner and outer beauty.

Each day you have the ability to choose where your thoughts and actions will take you. Beauty is all around you as well as inside you, it’s up to you whether you access it. What will you do to celebrate the beauty in your life?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Your True Path

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As you increase your self-awareness you’ll naturally follow your true path in life rather than:

  • Pretending you love doing something you don’t.
  • Justifying doing things you really don’t find meaningful.
  • Doing things solely for money.
  • Doing something because you sort of like it.
  • Doing something because you can.
  • Following other people’s visions.

The more deeply you know and understand yourself, the more you’ll:

  • Do things you genuinely love.
  • Do what you really want to do and find meaningful.
  • Worry less about money and more about fulfillment.
  • Do things because you’re passionate about them.
  • Do things because they’re your calling.
  • Follow your own inner compass.

The key to living an authentic and fulfilling life is to be the real you rather than pretending to be someone else. Take the time to discover who you are and let your authentic self guide your thoughts, feelings and actions. What will you do to follow your true path?

Cheers,

Guy

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The Self-Awareness Guy