Examples of Self-Awareness

Characteristics of Self-Aware Leaders

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Leaders who possess self-awareness also tend to be enlightened because they understand themselves at a deeper level and are able to lead effectively without destroying or dominating people. Here are some characteristics of self-aware leaders:

  • They feel comfortable with themselves.
  • They let go of ego.
  • They’re collaborative instead of competitive.
  • They understand how their own thoughts and behaviors affect others.
  • They treat others with compassion, kindness, and respect.
  • They’re comfortable with their own and other people’s emotions.
  • They don’t have a need for dominance, power, or control.
  • They are able to see the big picture as well as details.
  • They get out of the way and let others shine.
  • They communicate well, emphasizing active listening.

If you’ve ever worked for a leader like this, you know how enjoyable it is to interact with someone who isn’t out to make himself or herself look good and who understands that other people matter. What have you noticed about self-aware, enlightened leaders?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Taking Action

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A major element of self-awareness is understanding what motivates you and actually doing things to create positive movement in your life. I’ve consulted for and trained a lot of people over the years and I’ve noticed that there is often a disconnect between what they say they want to do and what they actually do. People mean well but very often they don’t know how to follow through to reach their goals. The missing ingredient is taking action.

In order to do anything in life it’s important to actually do stuff. If all you do is think about things, you’ll live a great imaginary life but not get a lot done in the physical world. Achievements don’t just appear out of thin air, they require deliberate and conscious effort. You have to actually move from thinking about things in your head to doing things in the outside world.

People who value self-awareness tend to understand the process of working hard each day to get to know themselves better and continue moving in the direction of their dreams. What are your thoughts on taking action?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and the Five Steps to Success

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Many people I consult with, and who lack self-awareness, ask me if there is a secret to success. There really isn’t a secret, it just requires purposeful action, which means that we are fully conscious and have thought about every action that we take. We don’t leave things to chance except when appropriate and we consciously do things to improve our self-awareness and keep working on the issues in our lives that require attention.

Think of success in terms of practical things you can do to move in whatever direction you want. The following steps will help you achieve what you want in life but there is one caveat: you have to take action.

  1. Define what success means to you.
  2. Break your definition into parts and give each one a clear name. These become your goals.
  3. Select one goal you want to work on.
  4. Brainstorm different tasks that will help you achieve your goal.
  5. Pick one task and follow it through to completion.

Use these five steps to keep progressing. Success is based on continuous movement and action. With each action you complete, you become stronger and more successful. Don’t worry too much about what goal you choose or what action to take, it is the act of doing things that creates the change in your life.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and be successful?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Changing Your Life Completely

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At any moment in time, you can change your life completely by deciding to increase your self-awareness and take action to make things happen. Many people settle for whatever comes their way, but you can consciously decide to move beyond the ordinary and live your dreams. Here are some practical ideas to help you shift your trajectory and live meaningfully:

Build Self-Awareness

Deeply understand what you do really well and what you need to improve so you can become the most balanced, fulfilled, effective individual possible. Think in terms of letting go of thoughts and behaviors that don’t work and replacing them with ones that get you better results and make you happier as a person.

Define Your Dreams

Take the time to identify what you would genuinely love to do with your life. Be specific and make sure that whatever you choose resonates inside you. Avoid following someone else’s dreams or ideas of what you should do or what type of person you should be, listen to your own inner voice.

Brainstorm Ideas on How to Make Your Dreams Come True

Sit down and write down as many ideas as possible on how you can make your dreams come true. Stay away from judging your answers or putting limits on what you can or can’t do. Write your ideas down in a stream of consciousness without worrying about things like grammar or what others might think.

Pick One Thing to Begin Working On

Instead of taking on too much and feeling frustrated, pick one item from your brainstorm session and begin working on it. This will allow you to focus your efforts and begin your exciting new journey. It’s much easier to take action when you have a concrete starting point.

Take One Small Step at a Time

You don’t have to do everything at once. Many people falter and get burned out by doing too much rather than focusing on manageable pieces. Try to take one achievable, deliberate step at a time and keep moving forward calmly and purposefully.

People who practice these ideas find that they have less stressful and more fulfilling lives. The key to being truly happy at any point in time is to be self-aware, cognizant of who you are and where you’re going, and take action to keep progressing.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and change your life?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware People Deal Well with Conflict

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When I consult with people who lack self-awareness about conflict resolution the question often comes up, “So what am I supposed to do if someone is getting mad at me?” Though counterintuitive, the answer is that you don’t have to do much, just listen. The next time someone is getting upset while talking with you, try these self-aware techniques:

1. Listen actively.
2. Nod and smile.
3. If you must talk do so only to say, “Tell me more.”

You will be absolutely amazed at the results you will get from simply listening to someone. The trap we fall in is that we think that, when other people are upset, it must be about us. When you give someone the space and opportunity to simply talk and be validated then they will give you much more information than if you engage them in a conflict.

So, give it a try. The next time you are about to get in an argument tell yourself that it is not about you and give the other person the chance to tell you about themselves. Once you master this skill, you will find that many of the conflicts you formerly had will disappear because you will no longer be part of the conflict.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and deal positively with conflict?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Making Things More Difficult for Others

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One of the characteristics of someone who lacks self-awareness is making things more difficult for others. When you don’t know yourself well, you can’t pull back far enough to realize how your behavior affects other people so you might do things like:

  • Treat people poorly.
  • Behave without empathy.
  • Think the whole world should bend to your point of view.
  • Frequently create situations that damage other people.
  • Do things that make others work harder.
  • Create a pattern of negative interactions and relationships.
  • Complicate things to gain power or control.
  • Make unrealistic demands.
  • Act as a gatekeeper.
  • Fail to take responsibility for your actions.

The antidote to these behaviors is to get to know yourself on a deeper level and become genuinely comfortable with who you are. The happier you are, the less stress you’ll create for others because you won’t be working out your personal issues on them. What will you do to make things less difficult for others?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware Leadership and Creating a Strategic Plan

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Self-aware leaders are well-equipped to create a strategic plan because they don’t allow their own emotions, thoughts, and behaviors to get in the way of creating a path forward that helps their organization thrive.

When I consult with leaders and organizations they tell me about the gigantic strategic plans that sit on their bookshelves. While those plans include reams of valuable information and input, they collect dust because they are too complex for anyone to use as a reference.

I’m a strong advocate of being self-aware enough to get out of the way and keep things simple in order to live a happier life, so I thought I’d share my basic approach to strategic planning. Strategic planning doesn’t have to be a chore. If you think about it, a strategic plan is really just a document that describes what you want to do and how you’ll do it.

Use the following ideas to create a concise document that guides your organization and that people aren’t afraid to reference.

  1. What’s your mission? Write a one sentence mission statement. Keep it simple and speak from the heart. Think in terms of what it is you really want your company to stand for. Stay away from jargon and business speak and focus on a meaningful, basic idea of what your organization does.
  2. What are the things you do well? Make a brief list of the things your organization does well so that you know what you have to work with moving forward.
  3. What would you like to strengthen? Create a brief list of the areas where you need a little help.
  4. Where would you like to go? Write down three to five things you’d like your organization to accomplish. These should be deeply meaningful to your organization and reflect your mission.
  5. Who will do what and by when? Decide who will take on each part of where you want to go. This step is much more successful if people assign themselves the tasks. Create a date for completion of each task.

When you work on these five steps you will end up with a living, breathing document that is intentionally concise and open to re-interpretation and change. The whole idea of strategic planning is to give you a framework or foundation you can build on. You can always add more detail or specific tasks but you can’t do it if you don’t build a firm footing first.

Try these steps with a key group of individuals and you’ll be on your way to creating an easy strategic plan that encourages dynamic movement instead of confusion and heartburn. What will you do to develop self-awareness and create a usable strategic plan?

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy