Lacking Self-Awareness

Self-Awareness Leads to Real Happiness

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A lot of people claim they’re happy and then think, say, and do things that indicate they’re not. The thing I like so much about self-awareness is that it’s an actual path to happiness, not just some false assertion. Here’s how it works:

  1. You take an ongoing, honest, candid look at yourself, examining your strengths and areas for improvement.
  2. You identify the parts of your life that don’t lead to joy, these are often the remnants of your formative years when you were hurt in some way.
  3. You feel all the emotions related to your past hurts and actively work on healing them. You go to therapy if necessary.
  4. You begin forming a clear picture of your whole self.
  5. What you feel, think, say, and do all follow the same path and don’t conflict with each other.
  6. You identify who you genuinely are deep inside and what you really want to do with your life.
  7. You take action every day to live life as the real you.
  8. Your level of kindness and compassion toward yourself and others keeps growing.
  9. You feel, think, and behave positively toward yourself and others; not just say you do.
  10. You become so happy inside that you make the world a better place for everyone.

If you value self-awareness, you’re likely doing one or several of these things right now and you’re on your way to living a peaceful, loving, balanced, dynamic, fulfilling, healthy life. What does real happiness mean to you?

Cheers,
Guy

Getting Rid of Destructive Pride with Self-Awareness

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A lot of people who lack self-awareness believe that pride means being as outwardly tough and invulnerable as possible. They’ll insist they’re proud of doing something or being a certain way even when they’re not. This type of thinking produces people who can never back down, admit being wrong, or change their minds. They present a strong facade but are internally shattered and don’t possess the self-awareness to change direction.

True pride is not how much bravado you project or how strong your shell is, it’s how you actually feel about yourself deep inside and how genuinely self-aware, balanced, and fulfilled you are. People who are willing to take a look at who they are and make the necessary adjustments are much more likely to live happily than those who only focus on projecting invincibility.

Being proud really means being at peace with yourself by living life as the real you, not just pretending you’re doing it. Constructive pride is the ability to feel great about who you are as a person at every level, without any rationalizations or qualifications. What will you do to develop self-awareness and move beyond destructive pride?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Thinking about Others

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Perhaps you’ve met individuals who assure you they possess self-awareness and then trample all over other people. It’s like the boss who says she’s wonderful and caring and shouts at her employees or the husband who says he’s a great guy but does things that deeply hurt his spouse.

When you have a high level of self-awareness you naturally think about others. The more comfortable and knowledgeable you are about what drives your thoughts, feelings and behaviors, the more likely you will be to feel happy and balanced and treat other people in a caring, compassionate way. If you solely care about your money, your power, your own success, your immediate needs, your safety, or your own point of view, you’re less likely to think about other people.

The key to living a genuinely fulfilling, happy life is to realize that you can take care of yourself and others, not just one or the other. As you become healthier and more tuned in to who you are deep inside, you’re much more likely to help others do the same. What will you do to keep building your self-awareness and thinking about others?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Moving Past Hurt

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When you possess self-awareness, you’re much more likely to enjoy life rather than feeling miserable. Living in hurt is something that countless numbers of people know all too well. They may not consciously understand what they’re doing, but they experience the results of their subconscious minds compelling them to behave in negative, unproductive, and counterintuitive ways.

The legacy of hurt is powerful. It can travel over generations and influence people in its proximity. Hurt people routinely destroy themselves, others, their nations, and the planet. Throughout many years of helping individuals and groups build self-awareness, I’ve noticed that the most genuinely happy people are those who have dealt directly with their hurts. This means they’ve done the hard work necessary to examine themselves and heal the wounds of the past.

Moving beyond pain or trauma is difficult. It requires a higher level of self-awareness and a commitment to improving oneself. Very few people do it, but those who embark on the journey are rewarded with a richer, multifaceted, healthy, expansive life.

What will you do to increase self-awareness and reduce the hurt in your life?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness, Leadership, and Reducing Stress at Work

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Leaders who possess self-awareness are able to reduce stress at work because they understand how their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors can lead to a more calm, positive mindset.

Many leaders run around in a perpetual state of stress but did you know you can do some basic things to interrupt this pattern? Being stressed is a natural reaction if you’re being chased by a lion but can cause all kinds of problems if you are feeling it all the time in your workplace. Think of the following ideas to reduce your stress at work.

  1. Do things you love for a living. This will help you avoid the stress from doing a job you hate.
  2. Surround yourself with supportive people. Make sure that you interact with people who respect you for who you are.
  3. Limit the overwhelm. You don’t have to take on everything at once.  Do one thing well and move on to the next.
  4. Take time to take care of yourself. Take time each day to take a walk or talk with a supportive friend.
  5. Focus on the positive. Don’t worry so much about the stuff you can’t control or that goes wrong. Think about the things that are going well.

Try these ideas to help balance your work life. You’ll be thankful you started thinking this way when you feel more relaxed and less stressed out. What will you do to use your self-awareness to reduce the stress you feel at work?

Cheers,

Guy

Rigid Thinking Means Lack of Self-Awareness

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Rigid thinking reflects a lack of self-awareness and often leads to unhappiness and imbalance, yet many people hang on to one set of thoughts and behaviors throughout their entire lives. They do this because they’re unwilling or unable to consider any other point of view other than their own, usually because they feel that something negative will happen if they consider other options. Some people genuinely believe that they’ll look weak if they change their minds, others are afraid that their carefully constructed world will come tumbling down.

It can be daunting when you realize that your former views don’t fit the situation you’re facing or that you don’t have the tools to deal with new circumstances. Thankfully, human beings are able to raise their self-awareness, change their thinking patterns and acquire new information. Here are some ideas to help you expand your thinking:

  • Actively research and read from many sources.
  • Learn about other points of view.
  • Challenge yourself to look at a situation from a different perspective.
  • Tell yourself the world won’t end if you change your thoughts.
  • Become stronger by learning new things.
  • Listen to what others say and consider their views.
  • Be optimistic that new views can be beneficial.
  • Welcome change into your life.
  • Consider thinking in a way that brings you joy.
  • Think in ways that add to your self-awareness and help you grow.
  • Identify ways to build bridges.
  • Think compassionately.

When you think openly, it helps you find a point of view that brings you genuine, deep happiness and fulfillment rather than covering up your warts or enabling you to barely make it through the day. New ideas and information can help you thrive and succeed in ways you might have not even imagined before. What will you do to improve your self-awareness and think optimistically and openly?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Helped Me Become the Person I Am Now

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I wasn’t always into self-awareness. The person I am now is very different from the one I was years ago. I used to be driven by the need to feel superior, obsessed with what others thought about me; the kind of person who would put other people down to feel better about himself. At the same time, I stuffed my feelings deep inside, tried to ignore them and, consequently, felt horribly unbalanced and unhappy most of the time.

I grew up in a competitive family where you had to fight to be seen and heard. I was not encouraged to acknowledge or work out any of my inner conflicts, I simply had to hold them in and try to appear invincible. My family was ill-equipped to deal with anything emotional. Sure, we knew how to be angry, or sad, or fake happy, but not how to really deal with the core issues that were troubling us. The only way I got any attention was to be dramatic or clown-like because everyone else was so busy sucking all the energy out of everything they touched. This environment taught me to keep things to myself.

When was in my teens, I was an insecure mess who didn’t know how to deal with himself or others. I was hurting constantly but was not allowed to talk about it. I didn’t know how to build positive relationships. In my twenties I had no idea who I was and treated myself poorly because of it. People on the outside would probably say that I was affable and outgoing, but inside I was a mess. I hurt a lot of people in my teens, twenties, and thirties because I didn’t know who I was.

Somewhere along the way I realized that I felt uneasy and disjointed because I wasn’t living life as myself. I had learned to conform to the wishes of my family or friends but I hadn’t learned to listen to my own inner voice. As soon as I discovered I could be myself, I started shedding all the garbage that had piled up on me and became a kinder, more empathic, more whole person. I pursued my own goals in life and worked hard to live genuinely. Gradually, I began building my self-awareness and healing the hurts from my past.

The person I am now barely resembles the one I used to be. I love being this person and hope it helps build a better world instead of one filed with strife and sadness. What kind of person are you right now?

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy