Examples of Self-Awareness

The Peace of Mind of Self-Awareness - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

The Peace of Mind of Self-Awareness

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Self-awareness can bring you amazing peace of mind if you let it. The challenge is being able to let go of all the noise and obstacles that get in the way of learning about yourself and living authentically. A lot of people struggle with the idea that there is a different way of living where they get to be themselves and enjoy the results they get from thinking, feeling and acting naturally.

You can start increasing your peace of mind and self-awareness by taking time each day to think about your strengths and areas for improvement. Celebrate the wonderful things about you and also work on one thing you’d like to improve. Repeat the process and, along the way, you’ll discover more and more about your amazing gifts. What will you do to increase your self-awareness?

Cheers,

Guy

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

Self-Awareness and Dating

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A recurring question my consulting clients ask me about dating is: “Why can’t I find anyone who is a good fit for me?” My response is often something along the lines of, “In what ways are you ready to find someone wonderful?” The idea in dating is to look at yourself and build self-awareness so that you’re as healthy as possible and ready to attract great people. Let’s look at a few dating conundrums and possible things you can do to move in a different direction:

1. I keep going out with bad boys/girls. Different direction: I get myself healthy enough to recognize that it’s OK to treat myself well and go out with positive people.

2. I feel lonely. Different direction: I actively work on things that resolve why I am lonely and emphasize learning about myself before dating.

3. Where can I meet people? Different direction: When you get yourself healthy and do the things you love you move in circles where you attract people who are like you.

4. All men/women are terrible. Different direction: There are a lot of great people out there we just need to learn to accept them into our lives and be healthy enough to encourage good people to go out with us.

Dating is ultimately what you make it because you have a lot of control over where it goes. When you’re aware of how your thinking and behaviors affect your dating approach you’ll be able to connect with amazing people rather than repeating the same patterns. What will you do to build your self-awareness and improve your dating life?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Helps You Build Self-Esteem - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Helps You Build Self-Esteem

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People with strong self-awareness feel better about themselves. Self-esteem grows when you are doing things you love and taking steps toward your goals. Every time you complete an action or reach a goal you have a reason to feel great about yourself. The more small steps you take, the more opportunities you’ll have to feel great about who you are. The key is to keep working on things that are meaningful to you and don’t forget to celebrate as you go along.

Here are some things you’ll notice as you build your self-awareness and, by extension, your self-esteem:

  • You feel better about yourself.
  • You move past your fears.
  • You heal the damage inside you.
  • You learn to love yourself.
  • You’re able to list that things that are great about you.
  • You work on being the best version of you possible.
  • You don’t worry about what other people say, think, or do.
  • You follow your own path in life.

Cheers,

Guy

How to Start Building Self-Awareness - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

How to Start Building Self-Awareness

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A great way to start building self-awareness is to decide to do it. People often don’t realize that it takes deliberate and ongoing (lifelong) effort to achieve self-awareness. You don’t just wake up one day and decide you know yourself perfectly, you commit to learning about yourself throughout your journey. Here are some ideas to help you start your self-discovery process:

  • Make a list of your strengths.
  • Make a list of your areas for improvement.
  • Brainstorm some ideas of what you’d like to work on to become more self-aware.
  • Pick one brainstorm item to start working on.
  • Do one small thing to work on your brainstorm item.
  • See how things go. Make adjustments if necessary.
  • Pick another item to work on.
  • Repeat.

Increasing self-awareness requires dedication and deliberate, ongoing action. You get to know yourself by constantly working on becoming a healthier, happier, more balanced person. Where will you start?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Your Conscience - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Your Conscience

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Your level of self-awareness is deeply connected to your conscience because you can never escape the psychological toll that behaving negatively takes on your life. For example: If your job requires that you do things that hurt people, you can’t run from it or pretend it’s not happening, it affects you regardless of how hard you try to ignore or justify it. The same applies to thinking or behaving negatively in your personal life: If you damage others, you impact the quality of your own life. Some people try to compensate for negative thoughts or behaviors by giving to worthwhile causes or doing kind things for their immediate family or friends, but the relief is temporary at best.

A more fulfilling and rewarding approach is to consciously do things that lead in a positive direction like behaving kindly toward others, practicing compassion, or helping people thrive. When faced with a choice, select the option that does the most good for as many people as possible and do nice things without expecting any personal gain. Self-awareness means that you’ve taken the time to be so comfortable with yourself that you give freely and treat others wonderfully. What will you do to develop a healthy conscience?

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 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

The Self-Awareness Guy