The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-Awareness Helps You Expect the Unexpected - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Helps You Expect the Unexpected

As you work on your self-awareness you’ll often find that things don’t go exactly as planned. The key to success is to expect that things will change and that not everything will go your way. When you let go of the need to control events and people you’ll be flexible enough to deal with any challenge. It will also allow you to be less stressed-out when things don’t go the way you anticipated.

When you expect the unexpected, you open yourself to experiencing new things and learning along the way. Even the most difficult experience brings with it some kind of insight and knowledge. The trick is to see these temporary detours in life as opportunities for growth instead of unwelcome or catastrophic events.

The next time something unexpected happens in your life, take a deep breath and remind yourself that you’re able to handle anything and that you’ll always encounter things you hadn’t planned. Let go of the need to control everything and learn from what’s happening. Don’t forget that change is a natural part of life.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and expect the unexpected?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Tapping into Your Creativity - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Tapping into Your Creativity

People who lack self-awareness think that they have to be artists in order to be creative but anyone can use this skill to create success in their lives. Being creative simply means creating something where there wasn’t something before. It helps us tap into doing the things we love and exploring new avenues. Creativity can help us get out of a rut and discover new and exciting pursuits. Think of the following ideas when you are ready to increase self-awareness and get creative:

1. What do you love doing?
2. What can you create right this moment?
3. How could creating that thing improve your life?
4. How will you feel after you create this thing?
5. What will you do to continue being creative?

You will notice that these questions are designed to help you think about your creativity. Remember that there are no right or wrong answers or good or bad approaches. You get to decide what you want to work on and where you want to go. Take it easy on yourself: start with small steps and gradually work on bigger projects. The act of tapping into your creativity regularly will help you come up with ideas that could change your life.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and celebrate your creativity?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Helps You Heal a Broken Heart - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Helps You Heal a Broken Heart

Self-awareness can help you deal with a broken heart because, when you understand yourself deep inside, you’re able to celebrate the good things about you and heal the parts that require extra care. When you’re in touch with your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, you’re better able to deal with any relationship situation.

Perhaps you’ve had your heart broken by a parent, friend, relative, co-worker, or significant other. You can gain a lot of strength from how you deal with these hurts. It’s perfectly natural to be hurt, and how you deal it will lead you down the path toward having a healthy or failing heart.

The way you treat your heart can affect many areas in your life. Imagine if you could never recover from and insult or a break-up, you’d spend the rest of your life being miserable. Your heart follows your actions, you can choose to stay stuck in pain and misery or be kind to your heart and do things to move in a more positive direction. You have the ability to become more self-aware and change your behavior consciously, a skill that comes in handy when tending to your heart.

The next time your heart hurts ask yourself some questions that will help you move in a positive direction, like:

  • What is hurting me?
  • What can I do to improve how I feel and take care of myself?
  • What can I do to interrupt the pattern that keeps me stuck with a hurting heart?

When you discover why you are hurting, you then are able to do something differently. Our hearts often hurt because we have not yet learned how to mend them and nurse them back to health. Some people carry this hurt their entire lives. Much as an unhealthy heart can keep you from running a marathon, it can also keep you from enjoying a great relationship.

When you learn how to care for your heart, you can then enjoy it in all its healthy glory. What will you do to develop self-awareness and heal your heart?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Reducing Workplace Conflict - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Reducing Workplace Conflict

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? - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

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

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

Superficial People Lack Self-Awareness - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Superficial People Lack Self-Awareness

People who lack self-awareness show the world a superficial face while they boil under the surface. You can tell this is the case by how quickly they react to perceived attacks, withdraw when confronted or get uncomfortable when touchy subjects come up. We’re not accustomed to dealing calmly and candidly with the deeper issues in life, the things that really matter. Here are some examples of the concepts you’ll encounter when you look at yourself in more detail:

  • How you treat yourself.
  • How you treat others.
  • Whether you are living your dreams.
  • What kind of a person you are.
  • Whether you let life happen to you or take control of your destiny.
  • How confident you really are.
  • What kind of relationships you build.
  • Whether you practice self-awareness and take a careful look at how you feel, think and behave.
  • How you deal with the issues that cause you fear or discomfort.
  • Whether you live life authentically or settle for being someone else.

Examining issues like these openly and honestly is a vital part of building self-awareness. Consciously understanding yourself and being willing to work hard on being the most whole person possible will bring you the greatest happiness and success in life.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and look below the surface?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Helps You  Be Happy - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Helps You Be Happy

Imagine living a life where you possess self-awareness and think and act in ways that bring you deep joy and fulfillment. When you understand yourself deep inside, you’re more likely to enjoy who you are and experience the world positively. Here are ten things you can do starting right now to be happy:

  1. Forgive yourself and others.
  2. Do meaningful work that reflects your real passions.
  3. Let go of the need for things to turn out a certain way.
  4. Make sure what you say matches what you do.
  5. Treat yourself and others with kindness.
  6. Help others, including people you don’t know.
  7. Praise someone.
  8. Give someone a hug.
  9. Tell someone you love him or her, tell yourself too.
  10. Heal your hurts.

When you do these things you’ll be connecting on a more meaningful level with yourself and others as well as building self-awareness. The trick is to consciously do positive things every day that lead you toward happiness. The more you do it, the better you’ll feel.

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

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy