Define Self-Awareness Archives – Page 6 of 8

Self-Awareness Helps You Believe in Yourself

April 7, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-awareness helps you believe in yourself because, when you understand why you feel, think, and behave the way you do, you are able to appreciate your amazing talents and value the person you are.

We all reach points in our work lives where we may not believe in ourselves. Sometimes a difficult situation arises or a hurdle of some kind shakes your confidence. Perhaps you’ve had to endure long periods of disappointment or many challenges simultaneously. It’s very normal to reach these points in life.

Everyone has moments of self-doubt or insecurity. The key is to continue building self-awareness and keep believing in yourself even when you think there’s nothing to believe in. Here are six tips to help you believe in yourself even when things aren’t going so well:

Try not to take things personally. The events that happen in life are not personal slights, they are only events. Just as bad ones can occur, so can good ones.
Focus on the positive. If you tend to focus on what’s going wrong you may miss all the great things we are doing.
Make a list of the things you do well. It doesn’t have to be perfect or long, just write down some things you do well.
Feel free to dream. Dreaming is free and helps you get in a positive mindset where you look forward to the future.
Take action. Nothing reverses a lack of belief in oneself than taking action. Even if the things you do don’t lead to any immediate results you still have the satisfaction of doing something to improve your situation.
Breathe and take care of yourself. Take time to do calming, centering activities that don’t cost money and don’t require huge amounts of effort. Take a walk or some other thing you enjoy to break up the usual routine.

These ideas will help you find your balance again and believe in yourself. Life is often challenging but you have the ability to feel great about yourself no matter what comes your way. What will you do to develop self-awareness and believe in yourself?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware People Are Unique and Wonderful

April 6, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Life is richer and more fulfilling when there are many voices sharing their particular points of view, it creates a beautiful song with many tones and cadences. As you build your self-awareness, you will come to realize how unique and wonderful you are and how much of a difference it makes when you share your authentic self with the world.

There is no one else like you in the world because they don’t have your unique combination of life experience and perspective. Nobody feels, thinks, and behaves exactly like you; which makes you a precious gift.

One of the reasons I enjoy connecting with people who value self-awareness is that they are open to sharing their inner workings with the outside world. It’s liberating to find your own voice and say what you want to say because no one else can possibly do it like you. Every day is a new opportunity to discover who you really are deep down inside and live your life in way that brings you (and others) great joy and fulfillment.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and celebrate how unique and wonderful you are?

Cheers,

Guy

Lack of Self-Awareness Is the Root of All Problems in the World

April 2, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

The root of all the problems in the world is people’s inability to deal with emotions. Individuals who have self-awareness are able to identify what they’re feeling, the emotion that drives it, and channel their actions in a positive direction, people who aren’t comfortable dealing with emotions often do things like:

Hurt themselves or others.
Lash out in anger.
Go numb because they don’t want to feel anything.
Watch as horrible things happen to others.
Seek revenge or retribution.
Wish awful things to happen to others.
Create roadblocks and make life difficult for others.
Become withdrawn or depressed.
Sabotage themselves or others.
Turn to drugs and alcohol to escape what they’re feeling.
Be aggressive toward others to protect their soft insides.
Refuse to connect meaningfully with others because it might expose them to feeling something.
Accept negative relationships as normal.
Accept violence and chaos as normal.
Live in fear.

It’s not that people want to do these things, it’s just that their families, friends, societies, and they themselves have grown to believe that this is the only available option. What they may not realize is that they don’t have to live this way, they can actually build self-awareness, get in touch with their emotions, and do things like:

Treat themselves and others well.
Focus on being joyful.
Actively work on experiencing what’s going on inside them.
Help other people.
Forgive.
Wish for good things to happen to others.
Make life easier for others.
Step out of their shell.
Do things to help themselves and others succeed.
Experience what’s inside themselves and seek counseling for anything that’s leading them in a negative direction.
Be caring toward others.
Let people into their lives and show their real selves.
Strive to build positive relationships.
See kindness and peace as normal.
Live with courage.

For every negative approach to dealing with emotions there is a positive counterpart. The key to creating a better world is for people to have the self-awareness to realize when they’re feeling something, identify the emotion beneath it, and deal with it in a positive way. As human beings, we’ve become very skilled at coping with emotions (and the way they make us feel) in profoundly negative ways. The irony is that we can move in a positive direction any time we choose and build a world that benefits everyone.

By the way, if you’re thinking that this type of approach is unrealistic or impossible, you’re behaving like the people in the first list. In order to create a more emotionally healthy world, it’s important to first acknowledge that something is askew and then take conscious steps to move down a different path.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and deal positively with your emotions?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware People Realize Things Can’t Make Them Happy

April 1, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

I frequently consult with people who lack self-awareness and genuinely believe that buying things will make them happy. Time after time they realize that buying stuff really doesn’t affect their long term happiness. Sure, there is a buzz that comes from buying something you like but it doesn’t resolve the underlying things that are vital to fulfillment. This doesn’t mean that you can’t be happy buying things, it just requires that you put some thought into why you buy stuff. If you buy objects with the hopes of feeling better about yourself, I have some basic questions you can ask yourself to build self-awareness and help you focus on what’s really going on.

1. Do I really need this object?
2. How am I focusing on fixing the deeper issues in my life?
3. Do I feel less whole when I can’t shop?
4. In what ways does buying things affect my emotions?
5. Does shopping help me postpone feeling emotions?
6. Do I hide the fact that I buy stuff from others?
7. Do I have to buy other stuff to keep the buzz going?
8. In what other areas of my life could I devote more energy and thought?
9. Could my money be used for long-term success?
10. How am I defined by my things?

The answers to these questions will help you get some perspective on how your buying habits affect your life. There’s nothing wrong or horrible with buying nice things unless it prevents you from looking at the deeper stuff in life.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and be happy from sources other than buying things?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Being an Independent Thinker

March 30, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-awareness means understanding who you are and why you think the way you do so you can be your own person. Every time I’ve let other people think for me, I’ve felt powerless and have been unhappy with the results. It’s very common in our society to undermine people’s natural gifts and talents by telling them what to do. There’s no shortage of “helpful” advice to guide those who are seeking something or are just used to getting their answers from the outside, but it robs them of their ability to control their own destinies.

The key to living a meaningful, fulfilling life is to listen to yourself and follow your own path rather than one prescribed by someone else. When I discovered that I could think for myself, I began honoring the person I really am and following my own natural course. I now wake up each day and do what I want to do instead of what someone else tells me to.

People who value self-awareness tend to be independent thinkers who listen to their own inner voices. They do their own thing, arrive at their own conclusions, and live more genuinely happy lives.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and be an independent thinker?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Finding Balance at Work

March 28, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

I was talking to a very accomplished person who lacks self-awareness and was feeling overwhelmed by everything going on in his work life. After I asked him to take some time to think about what was going well and what might need improvement in his life, he realized that he had been juggling a great deal of different challenges in the workplace and hadn’t taken time to think about the things that gave him balance.

We become so engrossed in working at a rapid pace that we forget that we can enjoy our efforts more if we pause occasionally to build self-awareness, relax, recharge, and reflect. Take some time in your day to do nothing. Look at the sky, take a walk, draw a picture, meditate, listen to music or do anything else you enjoy that requires no goals or deadlines. Work becomes more enjoyable when you take time to regain our balance and do it on a regular basis.

Balance helps you maintain a generally positive course and helps you be a more effective leader because you are functioning from a place of calm and reflection. It is this middle road where you can find grounding and greater peace rather than the standard rat race. You will always experience highs and lows but, if we nurture the middle, we will always have a place to seek refuge.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and find more balance at work?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Dealing with People Who Don’t Understand You

March 27, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

A big part of self-awareness is realizing that you’re wonderful no matter how others react to you. Some people will never understand the value of what you do, no matter how hard you try to convince them. I learned this lesson through personal experience in many settings as I tried to enlighten people on what I had to offer and was met with blank stares. I would go home feeling dejected and worthless, but looking forward to the next time I would see them, that’s when I would undoubtedly get them on my side. It never worked.

One day I woke up and realized that I didn’t have to convince people of my worth. If they didn’t get it, it didn’t matter because there were others out there who would. Once I learned this valuable bit of information, I started to focus my energy on connecting with the people who understood me, which has made a huge difference in my life. I now interact daily with vibrant, insightful, kind people who love self-awareness.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and deal with people who don’t understand what you do?

Cheers,

Guy