awareness

Self-Awareness Means Looking at the Difficult Things in Life - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Means Looking at the Difficult Things in Life

/ / Consciousness of Self, Self-Awareness / , , , , , ,

A lot of times self-awareness is about looking at the difficult things in your life. These are the areas that perhaps you don’t want to bring up or examine. The challenge is to find a way to deal with the difficult issues in your life so you can move past them and live without their influence. It’s like finally healing a wound that’s been hurting for a long time.

The vast majority of people live their entire lives without resolving the pain from their past. This limits their ability to grow and succeed. Think of how amazing your life would be if you became self-aware to the point that you genuinely loved yourself and were able to live as the real you. Too many people get stuck living a life that they settle for instead of doing the hard work necessary to live a conscious, fulfilling life. Self-awareness requires effort but it allows you to let go of all the junk that holds you back.

If you’re afraid of looking at the difficult things in life, that’s normal. The choice you have is whether you decide to move past those things or you let them dictate what you should do. Self-aware people choose to deal with the challenges so they can live wonderfully healthy and expansive lives.

Cheers,

Guy

Characteristics of Someone with Self-Awareness - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Characteristics of Someone with Self-Awareness

/ / Self-Awareness, Self-Awareness Comes From / , , ,

People frequently ask me to describe the characteristics of someone with self-awareness, here are some examples:

  • They’re in touch with their emotions and are comfortable with them, even when they’re unpleasant or difficult.
  • They’re comfortable with other people’s emotions.
  • Their thinking matches objective reality; they don’t make up scenarios that aren’t based on demonstrable fact.
  • They’re able to manage their thinking patterns and move even their most difficult thoughts in a positive direction.
  • Their actions lead in a positive direction for them and for others.
  • They deeply understand their strengths as well as their areas for improvement.
  • They’re always working on becoming the best version of themselves possible.
  • They work hard to heal their inner hurts, preferably by going to a professional therapist.
  • They’re genuinely happy with who they are deep inside.
  • They follow their dreams.
  • They live as themselves.
  • They’re open to new people, ideas, challenges and changes.
  • They relate well to others and build positive relationships.
  • They treat themselves and others with kindness and compassion.
  • They make the world a better place because they’re so comfortable with themselves that they’re able to freely help others.

Imagine your life if you possessed any number of these qualities. The wonderful thing is you can achieve them all if you choose to actively develop your self-awareness.

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Your Quality of Life - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Your Quality of Life

/ / Consciousness of Self / , , , , ,

Your level of self-awareness greatly affects your quality of life. The more you’re in touch with why you think, feel and do the things you do, the more consciously and happily you can live. Consider these two examples of people with different perspectives:

  1. Person A goes through life appearing to be confident, is outwardly successful, seems to have everything anyone would dream of having but is deeply insecure and realizes it’s all a mirage.
  2. Person B lives life with confidence, sometimes has doubts and shows vulnerability, but when he (or she) looks in the mirror, he knows he’s looking at a real person who is living authentically.

The difference between these two examples is that one person has to pretend to be someone else. Genuine fulfillment and happiness arise from looking at your strengths and areas for improvement and continuously working on being the real you inside and outside. What will you do to live a quality life?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Can Help You Change Your Life - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Can Help You Change Your Life

/ / Self-Awareness, Self-Awareness Comes From / ,

People often ask me how to change their lives. The answer is to build up your self-awareness, which enables you to heal the hurts from your past and focus on positive emotions, thoughts, and behaviors to move forward. Changing your life requires deliberate action over time, there are no quick fixes.

The next time you are wondering how to change your life, try using the following steps to transform your situation.

1. Think of what you want to change.
2. Devise a strategy to change it.
3. Pick one goal.
3. Pick one task you can do to start achieving your goal.
4. Check in with yourself in a week to see if you achieved the goal.
5. If the goal needs revising, do so. If you’ve completed it, move to the next goal.
6. Reward yourself each time you complete a goal. No overindulging please.

It’s one thing to want to change your life, it’s quite another to actually do it. It requires a plan and conscious action over time. Put one foot in front of the other and strive to complete your goals. It’s normal to feel like giving up, just keep taking one small step at a time. You’ll eventually see the results.

No life change is easy. They all take deliberate effort but people achieve their goals all the time. There is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to do so as well. What will you do to develop your self-awareness and change your life?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Your Thoughts on Diversity - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Your Thoughts on Diversity

/ / Self-Awareness in Leadership / , , ,

When I train leaders and organizations I often listen for their thoughts and attitudes on diversity. Leaders who possess self-awareness tend to welcome diversity and are open to finding ways to use it to improve their workplaces. If leaders believe that diverse people can get along and work together well, then they promote diversity; if they think that people can’t be trusted and don’t welcome a variety of viewpoints, then they will be suspicious or fear it.

You get results based on the thoughts you bring to workplace. Some of the words (which come from thoughts) I’ve heard people say that may hinder diversity practices include:

  • They’ll never get along.
  • They are different than us.
  • It’s always been that way.
  • Diversity’s a joke, let’s just do it my way.
  • I don’t trust that person.
  • I bet they’re talking about me.
  • I’ve tried everything and nothing works.
  • They have an attitude.

As thinking human beings, we have a choice as to how we approach almost any topic including diversity. Think about the phrases above and what kind of results you might get in the workplace if you thought that way. Now think about what kind of results you might observe if you increased your self-awareness and thought along the following lines:

  • We can work on this.
  • We’ll figure out a way to bring them together.
  • I’ll start a conversation with him/her.
  • I value different opinions.
  • We value all people in this workplace.
  • We focus on promoting collaboration, not conflict.
  • I’m going to trust that person.

What kind of results would you get if your thoughts were more like these? Think of the effect that might have on your workplace. Diversity is really just a state of mind. What you think about ends up being what you see in your workplace. If you’re self-aware and open to new things, then diversity will be an excellent tool to help you build a high-functioning organization. How will you improve your self-awareness and use diversity as an asset?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and the Secret to Effective Communication - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and the Secret to Effective Communication

/ / Consciousness of Self, Self-Awareness / , , , / 2 Comments

People often ask me what’s the secret to effective communication.  There really are no hidden mysteries, it just requires having the self-awareness to communicate with people in a way that makes things easier for everyone in the workplace. Try these ideas and you’ll be on your way to communicating more effectively and getting more done with less effort.

  1. Build up your self-awareness so you understand how your emotions, thoughts, and communication style affects you and others.
  2. Think before you talk.
  3. Speak calmly or don’t speak at all.
  4. Listen more than you talk.
  5. Try not to react to what the other person is saying.
  6. Ask open-ended questions.

How many of these concepts do you practice on a regular basis?  Once you master these skills you’ll be on your way to enjoying communicating with others.  Effective communication is achievable, you just have to be conscious of what you’re doing to make it happen. What will you do to increase your self-awareness and communicate effectively?

Cheers,

Guy

How to Develop Self-Awareness: A 10-Step Plan - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

How to Develop Self-Awareness: A 10-Step Plan

/ / Consciousness of Self, Self-Awareness / , , , ,

Here is a ten-step plan on how to develop self-awareness:

  1. Decide that you’re willing to look deep inside yourself. Don’t start this process if you’re not committed to being fully honest and working hard on developing self-awareness.
  2. Make a list of all the great things about you.
  3. Make a list of the things you feel, think, or do that are detrimental to your well-being.
  4. Make a list of all the things you’d like to improve.
  5. Pick one item from your list of things you’d like to improve and decide on one action you’re willing to take to work on it.
  6. Take action and then evaluate what benefit it had on the thing you’d like to improve. If it worked, move on to the next thing you’d like to improve; if it didn’t, choose another action.
  7. Once you have found the appropriate action to resolve the issue, start the process again. It’s important to do this because your lists will change whenever you change in some way.
  8. Keep working continuously, one item at a time. Don’t overload yourself by trying to do several things at once. Choose one thing and work on it deliberately.
  9. Whenever you resolve an issue in your life, celebrate and praise yourself for the great work you’ve done.
  10. Continue to identify and resolve issues throughout your life.

Developing self-awareness doesn’t happen overnight, it requires sustained attention and effort over time. Try this ten-step process and, as you do it, you’ll be gaining insights into yourself and living a healthier, more balanced life.

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy