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

Self-Awareness and Self-Reflection

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My consulting clients frequently ask me how to figure out other people. Oftentimes the key to our happiness does not rest on other people but within us. Self-awareness leads to self-reflection, which is a skill that benefits you by helping you understand your needs so that you can take care of them. It’s a great skill to learn because it helps you comprehend who you are and feel good about yourself.

Take a moment today to reflect on who you are as a person. You can start by taking an inventory of the achievements you are most proud of and those you wish you could improve. Ask yourself some questions like the following:

1. What am I most proud of?
2. What skills do I possess?
3. Where do I see myself in 6 months, 1 year, 5 years?
4. What are the challenges I face?
5. What will I do to overcome the challenges?

Thinking about yourself isn’t selfish, it’s self-aware and actually a great way to begin healing your wounds and building yourself up. Try beginning the process today and you will start to notice that it feels great to focus on yourself and your future.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and practice self-reflection?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Soft Skills Training - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Soft Skills Training

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Many well-meaning leaders and organizations that lack self-awareness have high hopes for soft skills training and are perplexed when it fails. This phenomenon happens because they think three hours of soft skills training can change their entire workplace. They optimistically hire someone to facilitate a workshop or two and expect their leaders and employees will behave differently overnight. The missing ingredients are time and commitment.

People who lack self-awareness forget that it takes considerable time and effort for soft skills (such as team building, effective communication, leadership or diversity) to take root in an organization. Think of how long it took you to learn the behaviors you currently practice. It takes time to teach people new skills and many leaders and organizations overlook the following concepts for training success:

  1. Decide that this training is as important as any other part of your operation and commit to a long-term program.
  2. Designate a set time and place for the training.
  3. Implement your training from the top down, involve the highest level of leadership from the very beginning.
  4. Focus on training that helps people learn positive workplace behaviors.
  5. Pay a professional to develop and facilitate a training program based on your specific workplace.
  6. Attendance isn’t optional and is part of people’s work duties.
  7. Give employees the time and support needed to learn and practice new skills in the classroom and on the job.
  8. Make the training an integral part of your company culture.
  9. Measure the impact of the training as you move forward and make adjustments as needed.
  10. Train people so they can train others in the organization.

Try these ideas and you’ll find your training yields better results. The success of soft skills training depends on how committed an organization’s leadership is to making it happen. What will you do to develop self-awareness and help your soft skills training succeed?

Cheers,

Guy

It Takes Self-Awareness to Look at Yourself - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

It Takes Self-Awareness to Look at Yourself

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There are many individuals who construct idealized versions of themselves to avoid having to look at how they really think and behave and the results they’re getting. It takes self-awareness to look at yourself, admit that something isn’t working and change direction. Here are some questions to ask yourself to stop fighting the facts and live based on what’s actually going on in your life and what you’re capable of doing:

  • What do I do in my life that causes me discomfort?
  • What can I do to let go of the things that cause me discomfort?
  • What would I change about myself to feel more comfortable?
  • What can I do to focus on my own behaviors rather than what other people do?
  • What patterns in my life would I change so I could be happier?
  • What am I willing to do to move in a positive direction?
  • What’s my plan for letting go of the thoughts and behaviors that don’t help me?
  • What will I do to be the same person privately and publicly?
  • What will I do to live authentically?

No amount of fighting the facts can change the reality of how you behave and the results you get in life. Take some time to answer questions like the ones I’ve suggested here and get to know yourself on a deeper level so you can live authentically and happily. Life is much more rewarding when you take a good look at yourself and follow your true path.

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Increases Your Creativity - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Increases Your Creativity

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People ask me where creativity comes from and I’m happy to answer that it lives inside each of us. Every person has the ability to create something that didn’t exist before, all it requires is an openness to building self-awareness, and being yourself, the real you. Once you give yourself the permission to be creative, new and wonderful things will flow from your mind.

Being creative is the process by which you take what’s bubbling inside you and give it a new life in the outside world. It can be through poetry, art, music, mathematics, business or any discipline you enjoy. The key to creativity is to let go of the need to be right, or be swayed by the voices in your head that tell you to do things a certain way, and let yourself fly. Don’t worry about what people think or hold yourself to some abstract standard, just let your heart speak and have a good time.

As you increase your self-awareness, you’ll be better able to identify what you love to create, what your process is, and how you can apply it to your own life. It’s an ongoing journey of self-discovery that you get to enjoy along the way.

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

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Expansive Leadership Thinking - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Expansive Leadership Thinking

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Leaders who lack self-awareness often get stuck putting out fires or reacting to emergencies all day and forget that they’re the person who sets the example for how people behave in the workplace. Leaders who think expansively move above the fray are able to design healthy, highly functional organizations where people treat each other well and get a lot done. Here are some examples of expansive versus constrictive leadership thinking:

Examples of Constrictive Leadership Thinking

We’ve always done it that way.
Employees should stay in their place.
There’s only one way to do things.
Workplaces are, by nature, rough and chaotic.
People aren’t to be trusted.
You’ve got to tell employees what to do or they won’t do it.
People should stick to the rules.
Employee self-awareness isn’t a priority.

Examples of Expansive Leadership Thinking

Let’s try something new.
Let’s use our employees’ feedback and ideas.
There are many ways to do things.
Workplaces can be kind and calm.
We trust our people.
We encourage employees to motivate themselves.
We’re flexible on the rules.
We help leaders and employees build self-awareness.

Many well-meaning leaders who lack self-awareness miss opportunities to succeed on a higher level because they can’t envision anything beyond the day to day struggle. Expansive thinking is the opposite of what we do in most of our workplaces, it’s an approach that moves past the chaos to calmly and deliberately designing a healthy, flexible and dynamic workplace.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and practice expansive leadership thinking?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Helps You Stop Reacting to Everything - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Helps You Stop Reacting to Everything

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Many people who lack self-awareness spend their lives reacting to perceived slights and conflicts. They have learned somewhere that the way you deal with anything is to jump into reactive mode and get mad at people. You’ve probably met someone like this: They see someone across the room and immediately assume that that person is talking about them, so they jump into a rage, get sad or shut down.

Reacting based on assumptions or our inner dialogue is one of the major behaviors that keeps people from connecting with one another. If we spend our time assuming that someone is trying to hurt us we live a very specific kind of life that is based on ongoing hurt and conflict. People live this way for a variety of reasons but mainly because they learned it at a young age and don’t know any other way of doing things, that and a lack of self-awareness. The good news is that you get to choose what kind of life you live starting right now. Here are some tips so that you can move from reactive to calm:

1. Assume people aren’t talking about you.
2. Assume that people aren’t trying to hurt you.
3. Live a life that helps you bring joy to others.
4. Seek professional help to work through why you react to others.
5. Learn to identify the feelings that come up inside you and calm them down.
6. Try not to pre-judge people’s motivations.
7. Have an alternate plan for how you will react positively.
8. Listen to people until they are finished talking; then act.
9. Practice patience.
10. Focus first on building your self-awareness and growing as a person.

There’s nothing wrong with experiencing emotions unless they limit our ability to interact positively with others. Try working on the steps we’ve mentioned and you’ll be on your way to seeing the world in a different light. What will you do to develop self-awareness and stop reacting to everything?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Means You Can Make Adjustments - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Means You Can Make Adjustments

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People who are self-aware understand that not everything goes as planned all the time. A crucial part of self-awareness is the ability to make adjustments. Take the time to consider what’s working and what needs to change in your life so you can get the results you want. Don’t be afraid to make changes to your routine that will help you move forward. Here are some examples of the kind of adjustments you might make:

  • Let go of what doesn’t work.
  • Heal the hurts from your past.
  • Invite people into your life who build you up.
  • Do things that help you learn more about yourself.
  • See a therapist or coach.
  • Do something different than what you do now.
  • Pursue your dreams.
  • Take the time to figure out who you are deep inside.
  • Live with courage.
  • Welcome change into your life.

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy