Personal Awareness

Self-Aware Leaders Care about Diversity - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Aware Leaders Care about Diversity

/ / Self-Awareness in Leadership / , ,

Many leaders who lack self-awareness stare blankly at me when I mention diversity, to the point where I wonder whether they even realize that diversity is all around them. Think of your regular workplace. Are there two people who think exactly alike? Do any two people look exactly the same? Does everyone have the same leadership style? Does everyone have exactly the same knowledge? Did everyone grow up exactly the same way?

Every workplace is made up of people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. This isn’t due to some cosmic plan, it’s just that no two people are alike. So why is it that people get all bent out of shape about diversity?

Perhaps it’s just that we don’t like to think about new and different things. Humans, especially those that lack self-awareness, are generally resistant to change but are amazingly capable of assimilating it over time. Why should you care about diversity? It really comes down to getting stuff done. Imagine if everyone on your team felt included. Think about what would happen if you could get rid of much of the problems related to people not getting along at work. What would your business look like if people trusted each other and worked as a team?

Diversity can be a powerful tool for businesses and individuals to succeed. It allows you to harness and use the wide range of talents and experience of your workforce. Best of all it makes sure that everyone is part of a thriving team rather than the alternative.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and care about diversity?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Where Your Thoughts Lead You - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Where Your Thoughts Lead You

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

It’s amazing what happens when you build self-awareness and think in ways that lead to positive results. If you focus only on negative thoughts and what you can’t do, your life tends to follow a predictable pattern. It moves very differently if you think in brand new ways. Try the following steps to help you achieve what is meaningful to you:

1. Think of a goal you would like to achieve.

2. Think of the reasons why you can’t achieve that goal.

3. Think of dumping those negative reasons in a trash can.

4. Develop new, positive, ways you can achieve the goal.

5. Picture what your life would look like if you pursued these positive paths.

6. Start working on your goal.

You will find that your thoughts are a powerful predictor for how you will do in life. You get results based on your self-awareness and what you think you can achieve. Try this exercise each time you feel like you can’t do something and begin moving in new and exciting directions.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and think in ways that help you live a great life?

Cheers,

Guy

Leaders Who Lack Self-Awareness Lead Unconsciously - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Leaders Who Lack Self-Awareness Lead Unconsciously

/ / Self-Awareness in Leadership / , , ,

Many leaders who lack self-awareness have a special talent for creating hostile workplaces teeming with uninspired and miserable employees just waiting for the day to end. Why does this happen in so many workplaces? One major reason is that many people in leadership positions mean well but lead unconsciously. They do what they’ve always done and, for many, that means repeating behaviors they saw in their families when they were growing up or that were spread to them by other unwitting bosses. They make the same mistakes over and over, hoping that someday they’ll get different results. Here are ten leadership mistakes that are being perpetrated in workplaces worldwide as we speak by leaders who lack self-awareness:

  1. Preventing employees from thinking for themselves and making decisions independently.
  2. Not being able to let go of the need to control people.
  3. Working out personal problems on one’s employees.
  4. Functioning in a reactive, disorganized manner instead of planning proactively.
  5. Creating chaos and confusion by always being in crisis mode.
  6. Not setting a positive example of how to behave appropriately and effectively in the workplace.
  7. Constantly assigning duties with no clear expectations or support.
  8. Talking too much instead of listening actively.
  9. Not trusting employees.
  10. Not asking for input, feedback or help.

If you’ve ever worked for someone who does these things you cherish the memories of wanting to find another job or hoping they move on sometime soon. It can be incredibly stifling and demoralizing to work for a leader like this but it’s a common scenario.

The vital question to ask here is whether you do any of these things? If you do, it doesn’t mean you’re evil, just that you have an opportunity to lead more effectively. Any of the examples mentioned in this article can be replaced with a different behavior that leads to more positive results. You get to decide how you behave and what kind of workplace you create.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and lead consciously?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Means Looking Inside for the Answers - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Means Looking Inside for the Answers

/ / Self-Awareness / , ,

A lot of people look to external sources for answers when all they have to do is look inside themselves. Although it’s difficult to take an objective look at yourself and begin the process of healing and discovering who you really are, the reward is that you get to live life as the real you.

I’ve found that people are really smart and even if their lives are complete chaos they have this tiny voice inside that reminds them who they really are. The key to living joyfully is to learn how to listen to your inner voice. You need courage to leave behind all the programming people (including you) have have put in your head so you can move in the direction of your dreams. After all, you’re the only one who knows what you really want to do in life.

Looking inside means you’re building up your self-awareness, which allows you to honor who you genuinely are and find the courage to follow your own path in life. All the outside advice in the world, no matter what the source, has anything to do with who you are deep inside. All you have to do to start your journey is to look inward.

Cheers,

Guy

People Who Lack Self-Awareness Get Stuck in Patterns - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

People Who Lack Self-Awareness Get Stuck in Patterns

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

It’s really normal for people who lack self-awareness to get stuck in a pattern, even if it’s negative. They become accustomed to the pattern to the point where it becomes normal. They take it for granted and just live with it.

For many people the key to getting unstuck is to build self-awareness and do something differently. For example: If you’ve had a certain kind of results in a relationship, doing something different has the inevitable result of changing the situation. But there is one caveat, you have to do it consistently over time until the new behavior takes root.

Try taking some part of your life and consciously doing something differently. Do it over time until it becomes your new “normal.” Lather, rinse and repeat. This approach can be applied to any number of issues. Keep it simple and do one at a time, you’ll eventually see the results.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and avoid getting stuck in a negative pattern?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware Guys Are Nice and Finish First - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Aware Guys Are Nice and Finish First

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

If you’ve ever heard the tired old saying that nice guys finish last, and believed it, then you might be surprised to find out that it’s profoundly wrong. For some unhealthy reason, our culture has decided that being self-aware and nice is an awful thing and that aggressive jerks are much happier. We’ve also convinced ourselves that whoever amasses the most stuff is naturally the winner. Perspectives like these ignore the things that really bring joy to people’s lives:

  • Possessing self-awareness.
  • Working through one’s unresolved issues.
  • Being comfortable with one’s emotions.
  • Treating people with kindness and empathy.
  • Doing things that make the world a better place for everyone.
  • Caring for the vulnerable.
  • Letting go of the need to win.
  • Not having to be on top of someone else to feel good about oneself.
  • Building positive relationships.
  • Helping everyone succeed.

No amount of money, power, or material possessions can make someone meaningfully happy. As you’ve probably read time after time, many extremely wealthy and powerful people are as miserable as can be, they just have a lot of stuff. They sit surrounded by their extravagant things in their expensive houses and have to work that much harder to convince themselves that it all means anything important.

Finishing first in life means that you’ve achieved the pinnacle of self-awareness where you are so healthy and comfortable with yourself that you spread peace and joy within yourself and throughout the world. The only things that really matter in life are how you feel deep inside about yourself, how well you treat others, and what nice things you do to improve everyone’s well-being; everything else is just window dressing. Nice guys finish first because they’ve done the hard work necessary to become so self-aware that they’re genuinely happy with themselves and are able to spread that joy. If you want to find out who really finishes last, look for the miserable person trying to make another million or billion so he can feel safe for another ten minutes.

What will you do to develop self-awareness, be nice, and live a great life?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Welcoming Change - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Welcoming Change

/ / Self-Awareness / , , , , ,

When you have a high level of self-awareness, you welcome change more easily because you know yourself well and you’re able to find peace and balance no matter what happens in life. A lot of people feel out of control and live reactively because they don’t have a reliable inner compass that keeps them calm and stable. While they may project confidence on the outside, inside it’s a different story. Here are some ways to welcome change instead of running screaming from it:

  • Realize change is always happening.
  • Realize change will continue to happen.
  • Realize you can handle change.
  • Realize that change often opens up new doors of opportunity.
  • Realize that there are things about you that can benefit from change.
  • Realize that you can become stronger by changing.
  • Realize that change can heal you.
  • Realize that change can make your life more enjoyable and fulfilling.

The key to welcoming change is to do something positive with it instead of running around wishing things were different or agonizing about what you can’t control. What will you do to welcome change?

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy