Personal Awareness

Self-Awareness Helps You Celebrate Yourself - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Helps You Celebrate Yourself

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

A big part of self-awareness is being able to celebrate yourself. Treating yourself well is as much a habit as a state of mind. It’s a good idea to cut yourself some slack and celebrate the things you do well. We spend so much time beating ourselves up that we forget that we possess wonderful skills and abilities. Ask yourself the following questions to begin thinking about how great you are.

1. What do I do well?
2. What do I love to do?
3. What thing do I do that truly makes me happy?
4. What can I do to reward myself today in a positive way?
5. What am I an expert on?
6. What can I do today to take care of myself?

Practice one of these ideas each day and teach yourself how to live a life of self-awareness and positive self-reinforcement rather than negativity. Learn to be your own best supporter, a person who recognizes the amazing things about you. Don’t be afraid of doing something silly like saying affirmations to yourself out loud. You have a unique power to be your own best supporter. It just takes a little practice and perseverance.

Keep doing it and, over time, you will shift your way of thinking to one that celebrates the things that make you special. What will you do to develop self-awareness and celebrate yourself?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Communicating Well in Relationships - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Communicating Well in Relationships

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

My clients often ask me what to do on a date or in a relationship when trying to start a conversation. Many people who lack self-awareness learned how to communicate in their families or with friends, so they only know one style: their own.

Learning a couple of basic skills can help you make the most of communicating with anyone. Try these ideas next time you are talking to a date or someone you are in a relationship with:

1. Listen actively.
2. Ask open-ended questions.
3. Listen actively.
4. Did I mention listening actively?

One of the easiest ways to help a conversation get started and build is to listen and ask questions. To be a self-aware, active listener try the following:

1. Look at the other person.
2. Really listen carefully and give all your attention to what the other person says rather than thinking about what you want to say next.
3. Nod or say uh-huh to indicate you are listening.

Open-ended questions are formed by asking questions that can’t be answered with a yes or no. Ask “What did you think about that?” rather than “I bet your really thought that was horrible.” The open-ended question will invite the other person to tell you more rather than answering yes or no.

Try these common sense ideas and you will be on your way to gaining a new understanding of other people. I wish you all the best as you begin mastering the art of communication. What will you do to develop self-awareness and communicate well in your relationships?

Cheers,

Guy

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

Self-Awareness and Flexibility

/ / Self-Awareness / , , , , ,

When you possess self-awareness you’ll likely demonstrate a flexibility to adapt to different situations and change course in life when unforeseen obstacles present themselves. If you’ve ever interacted with someone who lacks flexibility, you know how tragically sad it is when they are unable to change no matter what the consequences or rewards.

One of the major characteristics of truly happy people is the ability to bend instead of break by being open to making changes, learning new things, and continually growing. Taking a candid look at yourself and making meaningful and sometimes difficult adjustments requires significant courage; being stubborn requires none.

The reward of being flexible is that you’ll understand what it is to be able to adapt and thrive regardless of the situation. The thing I love about providing guidance to people who value self-awareness is that they are open to moving in new and exciting directions instead of staying stuck in one place.

How does flexibility affect your life?

Cheers,
Guy

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

Self-Awareness and Expressing Your Creativity

/ / Self-Awareness / , , , ,

A big part of building self-awareness is being able to express your creativity. I’ve talked with many people over the years who deny their creativity by saying things like:

  • I’m not creative.
  • It’s hard to be creative.
  • I just stick to practical things.
  • I don’t believe in that airy-fairy stuff.
  • I’m not an artist.

These statements were probably deposited into their minds by a parent, teacher, or friend and, over time, became a way of life. You may also hear these types of messages in your head but the key is to ignore them and keep doing your thing.

If you listen to all the naysayers you’ll never follow your dreams. Pay attention to your inner voice, the one that knows how talented you are and how important what you have to say is. Keep moving forward no matter what the critics say. Continue building your self-awareness so you understand what you really want to do in life.

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

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Deeper Communication Skills Part 2 - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Deeper Communication Skills Part 2

/ / Self-Awareness in Leadership / , ,

Effective communication is about developing self-awareness and practicing behaviors that will get you positive results rather than finding yourself stuck doing things that don’t work. In the first part of Self-Awareness and Deeper Communication Skills, we looked at how to help people talk in a meaningful way. In this post, we’ll review how to help a group work together on a challenging issue or any topic of interest. To continue the process from last time, reconvene the group and work through the following steps in order.

  1. Have the facilitator pick a topic of interest.
  2. Divide people into groups of four or five.
  3. Have each group repeat the process above by having each member give his or her perspective on the topic and the remainder of the group listening.
  4. Ask the group to brainstorm possible ways to deal with the topic. Have them write down their ideas and remind them that all ideas are valid and welcome. Let everyone know that this is just brainstorming, not the time for rebuttals, reactions or debate.
  5. Ask the group to pick one brainstorm item to start working on. Remind the participants that it doesn’t matter which item they pick, what matters is that they’ll be working together on whatever it is. Invite participants to let go of the need to advocate for their favorite item, encourage them to focus on the collaboration not the name of the item.
  6. Have each participant tell their group briefly what he or she will do to work on the brainstorm item and by when he or she will complete the action.
  7. Have each group share what happened in their group, what they decided to work on and how each will contribute.
  8. Take a break.

At this point you could adjourn the meeting. If time permits, you could have people share what they thought about the process. Give everyone a chance to talk from the heart but keep it brief.

So how does this process help people build self-awareness and communicate on a deeper level? These exercises help people practice behaviors that are conducive to resolving conflict and promoting peaceful interaction. They eliminate the distractions that occur in standard conversations and give everyone an equal voice. The trap many people fall into is thinking that these types of interactions have to be about someone winning and someone losing. Both sides try to impose their will and no common ground is identified. The difference in the process outlined here is that it gets rid of both side’s agendas, encourages them to empathize and allows them to generate solutions collaboratively.

Well-meaning people can come together and move past the standard grievances and recriminations that plague so many interactions and shift to a model where they build trust and understanding. There is a huge amount of power in listening to other people’s stories and making decisions based on commonalities and shared experiences. When you set up an environment where people are able to let go of unproductive behaviors you open the door to creating positive relationships and mutually beneficial problem solving. This approach isn’t a quick fix but it yields remarkable long-term results.

What will you do to increase self-awareness and promote deeper communication?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Coloring outside the Lines - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Coloring outside the Lines

/ / Self-Awareness / , , ,

When you possess self-awareness you’re able to do your own thing instead of being swayed by others. Countless well-meaning parents, teachers, friends, bosses, and institutions crush our spirits by telling us to avoid coloring outside the lines. The say things like: fit in, don’t make waves, be like us, don’t be too different. Unfortunately, conforming to rules is the exact opposite of being creative, where there are no limits.

Coloring outside the lines is the very essence of being your own person. You can do anything you want without worrying about the rules other people put in place to stifle your creativity. You get to live each day as the real you and do the things that bring you joy and fulfillment rather than conforming to what someone else says you should do.

A big part of self-awareness is following your own inner voice. You decide where you go, what you do, and how you do it. There are no rules, just the ones that you create.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and color outside the lines?

Cheers,

Guy

Tips for Building Self-Awareness - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Tips for Building Self-Awareness

/ / Self-Awareness / , , , ,

Here are some tips for building self-awareness:

  • Be willing to take an honest look at yourself.
  • Celebrate your strengths.
  • Be ready to let go of old thoughts and behaviors.
  • Look at the issues in your life you want to resolve.
  • Select an issue you want to work on.
  • Brainstorm some ideas of how to deal with the issue.
  • Pick one idea to start working on.
  • Evaluate your progress.
  • Repeat the process.

Increasing your self-awareness is an ongoing, lifelong process. It’s not a quick fix because it takes time to get to know the real you and learn new strategies to live authentically. What will you do to start building self-awareness?

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy