Self-Consciousness

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

Self-Awareness and Honesty

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If you’ve been building your self-awareness over time, you realize how important honesty is to becoming a well-rounded, happy, healthy human being. Personal growth means you’re committed to taking a candid, honest look at your thinking, feelings and behaviors and making positive changes. If you start from a position of trying to hide who you really are or pretending you’re someone else, you’ll likely avoid looking at the areas that could really benefit from some attention. A more effective approach is to decide to improve yourself each day so you can live an open, genuinely fulfilling life without having to cover things up.

A lot of people create unnecessary difficulties in their lives because they refuse to honestly appraise what they think, feel and do. They exist day to day compensating for or tiptoeing around issues that hold them back instead of dealing with them directly and taking action to improve the situation long-term. Self-aware individuals understand that self-examination is a vital, necessary part of personal development. As you live your life, think of the things you do well and the things that hold you back. Work hard to heal the issues in your past that prevent you from completely enjoying your life. Experience the joy that comes from letting go of the things that don’t work and become the healthiest you possible. What will you do to be honest with yourself?

Cheers,

Guy

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

Self-Awareness and Listening

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People who possess a high level of self-awareness tend to be good at listening, which is one of the most vital skills to live consciously, meaningfully and compassionately. The ability to listen allows you to:

  • Avoid getting your stuff all over other people.
  • Learn more about other people.
  • Avoid jumping to conclusions.
  • Honor other people.
  • Treat people with respect.
  • Build trust.
  • Connect on a deeper level.
  • Practice self-awareness by not stepping on the important things people are trying to tell you.
  • Show how healthy and balanced you are.
  • Build positive relationships.

It takes a lot of restraint to let go of having to be in the spotlight and give other people the time and space to tell their stories but it will help you live a richer and more meaningful life. What will you do to listen more?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Reduces Anger - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Reduces Anger

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One of the biggest benefits of building self-awareness is that it reduces anger. If you wake up each day and don’t pursue your dreams, go to a job you hate, hang out with people who don’t value the real you, stuff your feelings, or pretend you’re fulfilled, you’re very likely to be upset. Living this way leads to anger because you’re just not happy. Here are some ideas on how you can use self-awareness to improve the situation:

  • Agree with yourself to move in a new direction.
  • Get to know who you are deep inside.
  • Understand your strengths and areas for improvement.
  • Choose one thing to work on.
  • Take action each day to create movement in your life.
  • Praise yourself each time you notice a positive change.
  • Repeat the process.

People feel unsettled and upset when they’re not living authentically or doing things they find meaningful. What will you do to be less angry?

Cheers,

Guy

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

Self-Awareness Helps You Expect the Unexpected

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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

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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

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?

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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

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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

The Self-Awareness Guy