A Self-Awareness

Self-Awareness Is the Opposite of Submission - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Is the Opposite of Submission

/ / Self-Awareness, Self-Consciousness / , , , ,

I’ve always been profoundly puzzled by people who give up all their power to some authority figure. Self-awareness is the opposite of submission: It means speaking your mind and talking about what’s meaningful to you, even when it’s uncomfortable. It’s exploring parts of the universe that other people don’t dare examine and saying and doing things that upset the status quo. It’s living genuinely and questioning the established order. It’s the opposite of submitting to some outside entity.

When you give up your own decision-making ability you give away your self. What does that leave you? Nothing. No amount of riches or status can make up for not living authentically, the voice inside you will always be reminding you of who your really are, regardless of how hard you try to silence it. I love connecting with people who value self awareness because they chart their own course rather than submitting to rules imposed by others who are completely out of control.

How do you emphasize self-awareness over submission?

Cheers,
Guy

People Who Possess Self-Awareness Are Less Insecure - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

People Who Possess Self-Awareness Are Less Insecure

/ / Self and Self-Awareness, Self-Awareness, Self-Consciousness / , , , ,

People who possess self-awareness understand that the one thing that creates more strife between human beings at every level is insecurity and that it leads to all kinds of undesirable outcomes including toxic relationships and even war between groups and nations. Here is a list of insecurities that are common in people who lack self-awareness:

  • Feeling like you’re less important than someone else.
  • Having to win all the time or being unable to lose.
  • Getting mad at people because you project your hurts onto them.
  • Having to brag all the time.
  • Trying to be on top of people, in a position of superiority.
  • Putting others down.
  • Pitting yourself against other people and groups.
  • Making enemies instead of friends.
  • Finding reasons to be hurt by others no matter how nice they are.
  • Lashing out at others and claiming you’re the victim.
  • Acting out of fear and anger instead of courage and love.
  • Lacking empathy because you think other people will take something away from you.
  • Not being able to trust others.
  • Seeing the world as a dangerous, unsafe place full of people who want to hurt you.

The key thing to understand about insecurity is that it has nothing to do with the outside world and everything to do with how unsafe you feel inside. The way to move past feelings of insecurity is to heal your inner wounds and learn how to emphasize your positive feelings, thoughts, and behaviors so you can move in a more healthy, secure direction. After all, the only person who can make you feel safe is you.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and get rid of insecurity?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Dealing with Complex Issues - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Dealing with Complex Issues

/ / Self-Awareness, Self-Consciousness / , , , ,

A big part of practicing self-awareness is being able to examine the complexities in the world through thinking critically and considering issues from more than one perspective.

It’s easy to look at everything from one point of view, you just make a quick decision based on what you’ve always thought, but I prefer living in a world where things don’t always have an immediate answer.

A lot of people are afraid of dealing with complex issues like death or self-awareness, but it’s in those types of difficult topics that we discover the meaning of life. It’s simpler to subsist avoiding the deeper issues in life but we stay stuck at that level, which doesn’t lead to great meaning or fulfillment. I’ve found it far more productive to welcome ambiguity and discomfort and use them to learn and grow.

Life is full of complicated, uncomfortable, difficult situations, but you’ll be better able to deal with them if you understand who you really are at your core and are willing to use self-awareness to move forward positively.

What will you do to become more self-aware and deal with complex issues?

Cheers,

Guy

12 Examples of Self-Awareness - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

12 Examples of Self-Awareness

/ / Self and Self-Awareness / , , , , , ,

Here are twelve examples of self-awareness:

  • You’re in touch with your feelings and comfortable with them.
  • You know who you are deep inside.
  • You’re not afraid to examine and work on resolving the difficult issues in your life.
  • You consistently work on improving your understanding of yourself.
  • You treat yourself and others kindly.
  • You’re living your dreams.
  • You behave consciously and mindfully.
  • You heal your hurts.
  • You feel like your life is genuinely meaningful and fulfilling.
  • You understand that self-awareness is an ongoing process.
  • You contribute positive things to the world that benefit as many people as possible.
  • You live authentically.

Self-awareness is a state of being where you deeply understand yourself and live based on who you really are deep inside. Each of the examples I’ve mentioned here are things you can work on starting today in order to help you live a happy life. All you have to do is decide to work on one of them and keep going until you’re good at it, then move on to the next item. Over time, you’ll develop your self-awareness.

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Helps You Find Your Purpose and Passion in Life - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Helps You Find Your Purpose and Passion in Life

/ / Self and Self-Awareness, Self-Consciousness / ,

Self-awareness can help you find your purpose and passion in life because, when you are in touch with your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, you can look deep inside yourself and discover the path that is most meaningful to you.

Here are some ideas on how to find your purpose and passion in life:

  • Decide that you’re going to think for yourself and make your own decisions about what you do in life.
  • Get professional help to heal your inner hurts so you can focus on the wonderful things about you.
  • Start the process of discovering who you are by looking deep inside. Ask yourself, “If I could do anything I wanted to in life, with no restrictions and without worrying about finances or what people and society tell me I should do, what would it be?” Be completely honest with yourself, be courageous. Don’t consider anything but what you truly want to do in life, what really speaks to you at your core or in your heart. Make sure that your answer is something having to do with your path in life, avoid things that force you to give up your power to someone or something else or that you do out of some sense of external duty or obligation. This is solely about you and what you genuinely want to do.
  • Write down the idea you come up with, this is your purpose and passion.
  • Take one small action to make your idea a reality.
  • Continue taking small actions until you have achieved your dream.

A big part of self-awareness is understanding that all that matters in life is being yourself, the real you, the person who lives deep in your heart and who has the courage to live intentionally and consciously.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and find your purpose and passion in life?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware People Know What Emotional Intelligence Is - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Aware People Know What Emotional Intelligence Is

/ / Self-Awareness / , , ,

What is emotional intelligence? You know that feeling you get inside when you encounter an emotion and you’re able to experience it fully without falling apart? That’s what it is. Self-aware people know what emotional intelligence is because they are in touch with what’s going on inside themselves and how it affects what they do each day.

You are a human being that has emotions. In an ideal world, you would deal with or manage your emotions so that they always lead in a positive direction, but that doesn’t always happen because you likely haven’t been taught what to do when you or others feel things that are scary or uncomfortable.

You were raised in a certain way and move in circles that tell you what role emotions should have on your life. The problem is that the information you get about how to feel things may be fatally flawed.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and effectively deal with or manage your emotions when they arise, and do the same for others. It means you’re an emotionally stable person who isn’t afraid of feeling things or interacting with people when they’re experiencing their own emotions.

As you continue your journey through life you’ll find that it will benefit you greatly to learn how to manage your emotions in a positive way. What will you do to develop self-awareness and emotional intelligence?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware Leaders Are Okay with Making Mistakes - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Aware Leaders Are Okay with Making Mistakes

/ / Self-Awareness in Leadership / , , ,

Self-aware leaders are willing to make mistakes because they realize that every error is an opportunity to learn, grow, and continue to build self-awareness.

Perhaps you’ve encountered a leadership situation where you ask an employee about some task or project that didn’t go too well and he (or she) quickly shirks responsibility. This type of behavior is common in many workplaces because we design them that way. We create work environments where it’s not acceptable to make mistakes and where people will do anything to avoid the consequences.

Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are some ideas to help leaders and employees increase self-awareness and accept responsibility for their actions:

  • Realize that people make mistakes.
  • Allow people to make mistakes without being punished or reprimanded.
  • Use mistakes as an opportunity for people to evaluate what they did correctly and what they would change in the future.
  • Encourage people to come up with their own solutions on how they would avoid repeating the same behaviors in the future.
  • Make it acceptable for people to admit that something went wrong without being mocked by leadership or co-workers.
  • Implement an authentic open-door policy where people can come in and talk with you about what’s going well and what needs attention without fear of retribution.
  • Avoid talking down to people or reprimanding them in front of others. Try having a calm conversation where you listen to what happened instead of clobbering the person publicly or privately.
  • Leadership sets a positive example by taking responsibility when things don’t go as planned and working hard to find positive solutions.

One of the major reasons people avoid responsibility is that they think they’ll look dumb or incompetent or that they’ll be punished in some way. If your company culture is set up to hurt or shame people then they’ll naturally avoid accepting responsibility for their actions. On the other hand, if you promote a philosophy where people are encouraged to learn from their mistakes, they’ll be more open to evaluating and improving their behavior. The underlying idea is to move away from a punitive culture to one where people are allowed to learn from their mistakes.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and help people, including you, accept responsibility for their actions?

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy