Self-Consciousness

Self Awareness and Saying I'm Sorry - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self Awareness and Saying I’m Sorry

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The ability to say, “I’m sorry,” is a big part of self-awareness. Countless misunderstandings and conflicts arise because people are unwilling to back down or admit that they made a mistake. The irony is that, in trying to avoid being wrong, people make the situation worse. When something goes awry, it’s much more productive to think in these types of terms:

  • There’s nothing wrong with making a mistake.
  • You don’t have to be right all the time to be a good person.
  • It’s positive to take the other person’s feelings into account.
  • You can learn and grow by examining what you did.
  • You don’t have to win.
  • You don’t have to save face.
  • Admitting you made a mistake is a positive sign of self-awareness.
  • You take responsibility for your actions and how they affect others.
  • You’re healthy enough to not have to dominate or control others.

Saying, “I’m sorry,” doesn’t mean that you let people step all over you, it’s simply an acknowledgement that you’re willing and able to reflect on what you did and work on improving the situation. Self-awareness allows you to step back, evaluate your thoughts and behaviors, take responsibility, and make corrections. What will you do to say, “I’m sorry,” more freely?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Leads to Believing in Yourself - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Leads to Believing in Yourself

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When you possess self-awareness, you trust yourself to be your own guide through life. So many people put all their energy into believing in someone else or some abstract entity that they spend their entire lives neglecting their own inner voices.

The key to living a profoundly meaningful life is to stop looking outside for answers and turn inward instead. You have every answer you need inside you right at this very moment. They may sometimes be hidden somewhere in the recesses of your mind, but they’re in there, and all you have to do is be willing to put in the effort to find them.

Believing in yourself means that you take an honest, candid look at the person you are, keep what’s positive and change what isn’t. This process requires considerable courage because you have to look at the issues you normally try to avoid. Fortunately, after you do the hard work and build up your self-awareness, you’ll be rewarded with being able to let go of the things that hold you back and live authentically.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and believe in yourself?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Helps You Do Your Thing - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Helps You Do Your Thing

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Having self-awareness means that you’re able to decide what you want to do with your life based on who you are deep inside. It’s sometimes hard to do your thing when there are so many people and messages telling you not to. Every day, an enthusiastic teen tells her parents what she wants to do with her life and they advise her that she should focus on something more practical; or an adult tells his friends about his dreams and they make fun of him.

If you pay attention to what other people say you should do, or how they define who you are, then you’ll never follow your own path. The key to living a genuinely happy life is to be the real you no matter what anyone says. Do what you love doing each day and enjoy how it makes you feel and who it helps you become.

I love connecting with people who value self-awareness because they’re willing to be vulnerable and show the world their true selves. What will you do to develop self-awareness and do your thing?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Going beyond the Family - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Going beyond the Family

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People who possess self-awareness tend to chart their own courses instead of following rules imposed by outside influences, including their families. A lot of individuals are bound by a sense that they have to adhere to family rules and expectations, but I’ve often noticed that they often live more fulfilled lives when they follow their own inner voices.

Yes, the family is an important social structure that can provide a sense of meaning and belonging, but it is a human construct that has held countless people back. How many people have had to live their lives a certain way because their family tells them to? How many people have had their dreams extinguished because well-meaning family members suggested they follow a certain path? Far too many.

A major reason people are profoundly miserable in life is that they pretend that they enjoy doing what others tell them to do. Trying to be someone we’re not is always a recipe for disaster because the only way we can be truly happy is to do what we love to do, in a way we love doing it, for the reasons we find meaningful. This kind of courageous self-determination often goes against the rules and expectations of our families, but it is the only path toward true fulfillment.

At its very core, being happy means having the self-awareness to be who you really are: an individual who does his or her own thing regardless of what any other person or group says. What will you do to develop self-awareness and go beyond the family?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Creating Change in Your Life - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Creating Change in Your Life

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Self-awareness is a major part of creating change in your life because, when you are in touch with your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, you’re able to consciously move in any direction you wish.

Anyone at any time can make a deliberate decision to change their life. We literally can move our life in any direction we want to. For example: If I decide I want to be an artist today (even if I am not one) I can do specific things to achieve that goal. I could take a class, call some artists, visit some galleries, buy some art supplies, paint a picture, and the list goes on and on. The only thing stopping me is the voice inside my head that tells me I can’t do it. This is the voice that tells me that I will never achieve that, that I should be sensible, that I can’t take a risk, that people will judge me, that my dreams are stupid and that I might as well give up.

This programming is powerful but can be overcome by following these basic steps:

1. Close your eyes and think about what you are telling yourself that stops you.
2. Close your eyes and think back to the first time you heard that message from someone.
3. Picture how your life would be without that message. Develop a short phrase that describes that feeling. For example, “I can be an artist because it’s who I am.”
4. Write down the phrase you come up with.
5. When you wake up in the morning and before you go to bed read the phrase and experience the good feelings that come with it. Repeat for a month and longer.

We play messages in our brains over and over that keep us from being self-aware and doing things we love. Following these basic five steps gives us a chance to introduce a new way of seeing ourselves. Practice it over time (at least a month) to make sure your brain believes in your new way of thinking. If you don’t practice, it won’t stick. Once you’ve shifted your thinking you can move on to a new goal.

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

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Building Trust - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Building Trust

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Building trust in your personal or professional life requires increasing your self-awareness so you can feel great about yourself and encourage others to do the same. A lot of leaders and individuals walk through life or their workplaces wondering why they can’t trust people or why others won’t trust them. A lack of trust means that the person involved hesitates to get close to anyone because he or she is afraid of being hurt or doesn’t know how to build positive relationships. Here are some practical ways to build trust:

  • Do what you say you’re going to do.
  • Avoid saying one thing and doing another.
  • Behave with kindness and compassion.
  • Be there to help people.
  • Communicate openly.
  • Avoid rumors, gossip and secrets.
  • Listen to people.
  • Trust the other person first.
  • Be open to considering others’ points of view.
  • Have confidence in people’s talents and abilities.
  • Let people shine.

Trust is about you, you either believe it can happen or you don’t. Your thoughts and actions will determine whether you encourage people to be themselves and let them do their thing or continue to think and show them that they’re untrustworthy. You can move in a positive direction any time you choose by healing the parts of you that create the mistrust and behaving in ways that show others that you genuinely and unconditionally value them. How will you trust more?

Cheers,

Guy

The First Step of Your Self-Awareness Journey - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

The First Step of Your Self-Awareness Journey

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The way to get started on your self-awareness journey is to take one step. Nothing happens if you don’t take a chance and deliberately choose to move forward. It’s the act of taking one step after another that builds confidence, stamina and eventual success. It takes effort and determination to achieve anything in life but each endeavor starts with one small step.

What kind of things might you do? How about working on:

  • Healing the hurts from your past.
  • Improving who you are as a person.
  • Admitting mistakes and working to make amends.
  • Feeling all your emotions.
  • Letting go of things that don’t work for you.
  • Becoming a healthier person inside and out.
  • Learning each day about what makes you tick.
  • Being comfortable and knowledgeable about your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.
  • Doing small things each day to make your dreams come true.
  • Being kind to yourself and others.

Please note that you don’t have to do all these things at once. All it takes to become more self-aware is to be open to examining who you are, celebrating the great things about you, and improving the areas that need some attention. You just need to be truthful and dedicated to becoming the best version of you possible.

What will the first step of your self-awareness journey be?

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy