Self and Self-Awareness

15 Benefits of Developing Self-Awareness - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

15 Benefits of Developing Self-Awareness

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Here are fifteen benefits of developing self-awareness:

  1. You heal the hurts from your past.
  2. You’re in touch with your emotions, are able to feel them, and can use them to move in a positive direction. You’re also comfortable with other people’s emotions.
  3. You understand your strengths and areas for improvement.
  4. You treat yourself and others with kindness, empathy, and compassion.
  5. You do things to make the world a better place.
  6. You focus on the deeper things in life rather than living superficially.
  7. You get to know the real you and live your life accordingly.
  8. You let go of the need for power and control and focus instead on being the best person you can be without dominating others or having to win.
  9. People like you at home and at work.
  10. You don’t have the constant internal conflict of saying one thing and doing another.
  11. You’re generally happy and balanced, even in difficult situations.
  12. You understand why you feel, think, and do things.
  13. You learn and grow each day.
  14. You become a nice person.
  15. You enjoy life.

When you develop self-awareness you have a wonderful opportunity to move beyond all the garbage that creates conflict, chaos, confusion, and misery in your life and focus instead on living a kind, joyful, deeply introspective and fulfilling existence. When you’re fully self-aware, you no longer live day to day, reacting to everything, you get to be the real you and do what you really love in life.

Cheers,

Guy

A Practical Definition of Self-Awareness - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

A Practical Definition of Self-Awareness

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Here is a practical definition of self-awareness: The process of gaining understanding of who you are and how your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors affect you and others.

A lot of people think that self-awareness is something negative or scary that will force them to face things they don’t want to. That perspective in itself indicates a lack of understanding of how important it is to be able to look at yourself so you can live consciously instead of repeating the mistakes of the past.

Proactive, forward-thinking people use self-awareness as a tool to treat themselves and others well rather than living in perpetual inner and outer discomfort or conflict. Remember, life is so much more enjoyable and fulfilling when you experience it wide awake.

Cheers,

Guy

When You Feel Like Giving up, Use Self-Awareness to Keep Moving Forward - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

When You Feel Like Giving up, Use Self-Awareness to Keep Moving Forward

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It’s natural to sometimes feel like giving up. When it happens, you can use self-awareness to keep moving forward. Self-awareness helps you stay positive because, when you understand who you are deep inside, including your strengths and areas for improvement, you’re better able to keep striving to succeed.

One of the most important elements of getting to know yourself is the idea of not giving up. A lot of people embark on a self-awareness journey only to find that it’s more difficult than they anticipated. It’s hard to create change in your life because modifying your behavior requires long-term commitment and practice. It’s not a quick fix.

The key to gradually building self-awareness is to keep trying even when you think it’s not making a difference.

There will be plenty of times when you feel you’re treading water but you’ll actually be making progress. Stick with it, don’t give up, and you’ll eventually see the results. You’re worth it.

What will you do to not give up and use self-awareness to keep moving forward?

Cheers,

Guy

Do You Feel Insecure? Self-Awareness Can Help You Gain Confidence - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Do You Feel Insecure? Self-Awareness Can Help You Gain Confidence

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If you feel insecure, self-awareness can help you gain confidence because, once you know yourself well and are comfortable with your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, you’ll be able to lead a healthier more fulfilling life.

Perhaps you feel insecure about yourself and wonder if people are judging you or don’t like you. Insecurity is not about other people, it’s about you. When you feel insecure you are looking at the world through your fears. Some helpful things to think about when you’re feeling insecure are:

  • What difference does it make what that person thinks of you?
  • Nothing anybody says can affect you unless you let it.
  • Insecurity goes away when you practice doing things and become more proficient over time.
  • Take a moment to take it easy on yourself.
  • There are great things about you that you can feel secure about right now.
  • You can start healing yourself any time you decide to.
  • You’re a wonderful person.
  • You have unique talents and abilities.

Practice helps you build self-awareness, confidence, and competence. The next time you feel insecure ask yourself, “Why am I feeling this?” and consciously decide to move in a positive direction. Only you have the power to get rid of insecurity, by thinking and behaving differently. What will you do to increase your self-awareness and feel less insecure?

Cheers,

Guy

People with Self-Awareness Understand That Feelings Are Normal - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

People with Self-Awareness Understand That Feelings Are Normal

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A big part of self-awareness is realizing that feelings are a natural part of being human. It’s normal to have feelings, although countless numbers of people do everything possible to avoid them. This leads to individuals who only allow themselves to feel certain things and try to ignore the remainder.

I knew a person years ago who had a really tough time admitting any vulnerability or fear. He lived a life where he seemed invincible but was falling apart inside, and it eventually began to show. He gradually fell apart, behaving erratically and distancing himself from others. He thought he was protecting himself but he was really isolating himself from meaningful human interaction, all because he was avoiding feeling fear.

Feelings are a normal part of life, no matter how difficult they may appear to be. They are signals from out minds and bodies that something needs attention. They tell us how we’re doing. When I have uncomfortable feelings of any kind, I try to acknowledge them and feel them fully. I honor what my body is telling me and experience it as much as possible so I can heal and move forward positively.

We can only be truly happy in life when we have the self-awareness necessary to be at peace with all our emotions. What will you do to increase your self-awareness and get in touch with your feelings?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Finding Meaning in Life - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Finding Meaning in Life

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Self-awareness is a vital to finding meaning in life because when you understand and are able to manage your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, you can live more consciously, deliberately, and meaningfully.

If you’re searching for meaning in your life, you’re not alone. It can feel scary and uncomfortable to not know what direction your life is going in but you can find your path by asking yourself questions like:

  • Who am I deep inside?
  • What do I really want to do in life?
  • What brings me deep joy and fulfillment within myself?
  • What things am I doing to take care of myself?
  • In what ways am I following my true path in life?
  • What am I doing to love myself?
  • What resources am I using to help get me where I want to be?

When you ask yourself questions like these, you’ll be building self-awareness and moving toward finding the answers you’re looking for. It all starts by looking deep within yourself and doing the work necessary to live the life you want to.

What will you do to increase your self-awareness and find meaning in life?

Cheers,

Guy

How to Use Self-Awareness to Fix a Relationship Problem - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

How to Use Self-Awareness to Fix a Relationship Problem

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Self-awareness can help you fix your relationship problems because, when the people involved understand and can manage their emotions, thoughts, and actions, they are in a good position to resolve the situation.

Many people experience difficulties in their relationships and don’t know what to do about them. They repeat an endless cycle of getting hurt, hurting back and perpetuating the hurt through their actions. It even happens in dating situations and marriages where both people are kind, intelligent and caring. So what is it that causes this conflict and what can we do to increase our self-awareness and do something about the issue? It helps to first examine why conflict occurs. Here are some of the causes:

  • Neither person understands the other person’s point of view.
  • There is not a meeting of the minds on issues.
  • Neither side backs down.
  • Each side tries to win.
  • Neither side has the skills or knowledge to fix the problem.
  • The people involved are hurt, angry, frustrated or sad.

The good news is that you can help your situation by being self-aware and thinking about new ways of doing things. The key point is to start a process where nobody wins and both of you collaborate to find a solution that works for everyone involved. Consider using the following ideas to begin increasing your self-awareness and connecting with your significant other in ways that will benefit both of you.

  • You both agree to talk.
  • Set up an interruption-free time to talk.
  • Agree on one thing to talk about.
  • Brainstorm possible ideas to fix the problem.
  • Evaluate each option.
  • Agree together on the resolution that works best for both of you.
  • Work together to take action on the resolution.
  • Move to the next problem.
  • Think about getting a neutral person involved to mediate.

I also encourage my clients to do away with the word “problem” and look at the challenges in life as opportunities for personal growth and movement in a more positive direction. Looking at challenging situations in a positive light gives you the opportunity to actually fix things rather than repeating the same patterns.

So the next time you are in the middle of a fight, redirect your thoughts to the possibility that both of you can work together and purposefully resolve the matter. What will you do to increase your self-awareness and fix your relationship problems?

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy