Self-Consciousness

Self-Awareness and Really Loving Yourself - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Really Loving Yourself

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A lot of people who lack self-awareness loudly proclaim that they respect and love themselves and then get trampled mercilessly by every person who comes into their lives. They also go from one broken heart to another wondering why it keeps happening to them. They never seem to heal or resolve their inner issues. Many people who don’t possess self-awareness navigate the waters of relationships focusing almost entirely on other people’s needs. They invest huge amounts of time and energy into making someone else happy or worrying about how they’re doing while ignoring the most important person in the room, themselves.

Why is it we go through such elaborate efforts to mold our lives around someone else only to find ourselves losing our self-identity and wishing for better relationships?

Somewhere along the way we lose sight of the importance of caring for ourselves. Being self-aware enough to take care of ourselves first is a critically important step in creating fulfilling relationships in our lives but we don’t do it consistently. We benefit from tending to our own needs first so we can be in great shape to attract positive, vibrant people into our lives and share great relationships. So how do we do that? The good news is that there are many straightforward things we can do, starting today, to take care of ourselves and begin the process of respecting and loving ourselves.

You can consciously become healthy and happy by healing your inner hurts, practicing self-love, and behaving in positive ways. Loving yourself requires getting to know who you are deep down inside and understanding how to tend to your own needs and treat yourself well. Only after you’re genuinely healthy and enjoy your own company can you invite other people in.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and really love yourself?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware People Are Deep - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Aware People Are Deep

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Possessing self-awareness is synonymous with being a deep person, where all the meaningful parts of life reside, although most people prefer to stay in the shallow end. There’s nothing horrible about talking about the weather, sports, or cats, but I prefer to go where other people dare not: the inner workings of the mind in all its tumultuousness, ambiguity, insecurity, and pain.

I’ve always been someone who feels things very intensely, often to the point of discomfort, so it makes sense that my self-awareness work tends to reflect deeper emotions. Many people try to ignore these feelings and uncertainties, sometimes for an entire lifetime, but I figure we’re all wired to feel and we each get to choose whether we use our natural ability to emote. So many of the problems in the world could be resolved if people were willing to work out their inner turmoil before putting it on others.

Being a deep person allows you to experience life at its fullest, warts and all, but with the idea that you’ll be stronger and more balanced when you deal with your issues. When you acknowledge and feel pain, you can then do something positive to heal it.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and be a deep person?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Avoiding Being Ordinary - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Avoiding Being Ordinary

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Self-awareness helps you avoid being ordinary so you can experience a life of courage, joy, love, enlightenment, meaning, and fulfillment. Throughout my career consulting for and training thoughtful people who are searching for answers in their lives and trying to develop self-awareness, I have noticed that there is a vast difference between conforming and blazing your own path. My experience has taught me that the goal in life isn’t to just get by or live an ordinary existence, but rather:

  • Being who you really are.
  • Doing courageous things each day to make your dreams come true.
  • Going against the grain when in the presence of injustice.
  • Thinking and behaving differently than the norm.
  • Not trying to fit in.
  • Adding to the beauty in the world.
  • Making the world a better place for as many people as possible.
  • Moving beyond high-school behaviors.
  • Becoming your own person rather than the one your parents, family, or peer group want you to be.
  • Thinking and behaving with kindness and compassion rather than self-interest.

Moving past the standard way of being requires consciously diverging from what most people do. It means having the self-awareness to be your own person and do your own thing. The underlying reason is that you get to be yourself rather than conforming to others or pretending you’re someone else, thus living a much richer, more meaningful life.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and go beyond ordinariness?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware People Try Not to Be the Problem in Relationships - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Aware People Try Not to Be the Problem in Relationships

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People who lack self-awareness frequently become part of the problem in interpersonal relationships rather than helping devise a solution. This happens because they lose perspective and let other people goad them into conflict or chaos. Look at these scenarios and see if you can spot the difference between being part of the problem and not:

1. The other person gets angry and you immediately retaliate and/or defend yourself.

2. The other person gets angry and you ask them to tell you about it and you listen.

Guess which approach is more likely to get better results? There is a myth that we have to fight for our point of view and deny others theirs but this only perpetuates a communication style that is based on lack of self-awareness and perpetual conflict. If one person wins then the other loses. I much prefer for each person to win.

One of the best ways to reduce confrontation is to simply listen. The world is not going to end if you don’t retaliate or fight. In reality, you actually connect more with the other person if you just listen to them. You also benefit from not fighting.

People like to be valued and listened to and they are much more likely to work with you to resolve problems if they trust you to not trample all over them. The next time you feel a clash coming on, try listening to the other person without commenting, editorializing or offering your opinion. By doing this you will be setting the foundation for improved communication in the future.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and reduce conflict in your relationships?

Cheers,

Guy

Nice People Are Self-Aware - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Nice People Are Self-Aware

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A big part of self-awareness relates to how you behave in life. Certain behaviors lead in certain direction and a certain type of results. Think about a person who lies, cheats and steals his way to success. He (or she) may have amazing wealth or power, but there will always be something missing because they got there practicing negative behaviors.

The key in life is to be nice so that you can experience the peace of mind that comes from knowing you behaved in a way that was kind, honorable and ethical. Being nice doesn’t mean being weak, it refers to conducting yourself in ways that encourage kindness and build harmony. Ultimately, being nice helps you enjoy life more because you don’t have to worry about all the repercussions that come from behaving negatively.

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

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Trying to Be Perfect - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Trying to Be Perfect

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A lot of people think developing self-awareness is the same as trying to be perfect. To dispel this myth, it’s important to understand that there is no such thing as perfection; the only thing that really matters in life is being the best, most authentic you possible. If you don’t live life as the real you and don’t honor who you are deep inside, you will never be able to grow or become fulfilled.

People who are trying to be perfect waste all of their time on some false ideal. I prefer to keep moving forward and taking small actions to become the best me I can be. You don’t have to worry about perfection, just figure out who you are deep inside and then try to be that person in real life. When you let go of the need to be perfect, you can focus on just being yourself.

It’s also important to take a break once in a while and not always be doing stuff. Take some time to do fun things that bring you joy and help you recharge. Supplement your self-awareness development efforts with things that bring you peace and balance. The goal is to keep growing and enjoy the journey toward self-awareness.

Cheers,

Guy

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

Self-Awareness and Facts

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Self-awareness and facts compliment each other because you can’t live authentically unless you’re willing to look at who you really are and what you actually do in life. People run into all kinds of trouble when they ignore what’s really happening inside and around them. It’s very difficult to pretend you’re someone you’re not and deny how you think and behave. Here are some signs that you may be ignoring the facts:

  • You think in ways that are based on fiction rather than verifiable reality.
  • You have an image of yourself that doesn’t match your actions.
  • When you try to fact check your thoughts and beliefs, you have difficulty finding empirical evidence to back them up.
  • Your facts are based on fears or hurts you possess deep inside.
  • Your facts cover up who you really are.
  • The image you show the world is not the real you.
  • You don’t do any work to become healthier or more balanced.
  • You have various areas of your inner life in conflict with each other.
  • You have to justify and rationalize your actions to yourself and others.
  • You feel dissatisfied and unfulfilled inside.

Just reading this list is exhausting and deflating because it’s the opposite of self-awareness, fulfillment, joy, peace, and enlightenment. Thankfully, you can take a candid look at yourself any time you choose and move in a more positive direction by examining the actual results of your thoughts and behaviors. What will you do to pay attention to the facts in your life?

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy