Personal Awareness

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

Self-Awareness Increases Your Creativity

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People ask me where creativity comes from and I’m happy to answer that it lives inside each of us. Every person has the ability to create something that didn’t exist before, all it requires is an openness to building self-awareness, and being yourself, the real you. Once you give yourself the permission to be creative, new and wonderful things will flow from your mind.

Being creative is the process by which you take what’s bubbling inside you and give it a new life in the outside world. It can be through poetry, art, music, mathematics, business or any discipline you enjoy. The key to creativity is to let go of the need to be right, or be swayed by the voices in your head that tell you to do things a certain way, and let yourself fly. Don’t worry about what people think or hold yourself to some abstract standard, just let your heart speak and have a good time.

As you increase your self-awareness, you’ll be better able to identify what you love to create, what your process is, and how you can apply it to your own life. It’s an ongoing journey of self-discovery that you get to enjoy along the way.

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

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

Self-Awareness Helps You Stop Reacting to Everything - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Helps You Stop Reacting to Everything

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Many people who lack self-awareness spend their lives reacting to perceived slights and conflicts. They have learned somewhere that the way you deal with anything is to jump into reactive mode and get mad at people. You’ve probably met someone like this: They see someone across the room and immediately assume that that person is talking about them, so they jump into a rage, get sad or shut down.

Reacting based on assumptions or our inner dialogue is one of the major behaviors that keeps people from connecting with one another. If we spend our time assuming that someone is trying to hurt us we live a very specific kind of life that is based on ongoing hurt and conflict. People live this way for a variety of reasons but mainly because they learned it at a young age and don’t know any other way of doing things, that and a lack of self-awareness. The good news is that you get to choose what kind of life you live starting right now. Here are some tips so that you can move from reactive to calm:

1. Assume people aren’t talking about you.
2. Assume that people aren’t trying to hurt you.
3. Live a life that helps you bring joy to others.
4. Seek professional help to work through why you react to others.
5. Learn to identify the feelings that come up inside you and calm them down.
6. Try not to pre-judge people’s motivations.
7. Have an alternate plan for how you will react positively.
8. Listen to people until they are finished talking; then act.
9. Practice patience.
10. Focus first on building your self-awareness and growing as a person.

There’s nothing wrong with experiencing emotions unless they limit our ability to interact positively with others. Try working on the steps we’ve mentioned and you’ll be on your way to seeing the world in a different light. What will you do to develop self-awareness and stop reacting to everything?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Means You Can Make Adjustments - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Means You Can Make Adjustments

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People who are self-aware understand that not everything goes as planned all the time. A crucial part of self-awareness is the ability to make adjustments. Take the time to consider what’s working and what needs to change in your life so you can get the results you want. Don’t be afraid to make changes to your routine that will help you move forward. Here are some examples of the kind of adjustments you might make:

  • Let go of what doesn’t work.
  • Heal the hurts from your past.
  • Invite people into your life who build you up.
  • Do things that help you learn more about yourself.
  • See a therapist or coach.
  • Do something different than what you do now.
  • Pursue your dreams.
  • Take the time to figure out who you are deep inside.
  • Live with courage.
  • Welcome change into your life.

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Saying No - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Saying No

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An important part of self-awareness is allowing yourself not to do everything that people ask you to do. A lot of well-meaning individuals expend a great deal of energy doing things for others rather than remaining focused on their own goals. You get to decide whether you live your own life or someone else’s. Saying no doesn’t mean being rude, it’s just letting people know what your limits and boundaries are.

When you learn how to say no, you allow yourself to focus your energy on doing what you want to do. You can take action to make your own dreams come true. You also get rid of the inner discomfort that comes from doing things you really don’t want to do.

You’re a valuable person who deserves to follow your own path in life. Your needs matter. When you say no, you are putting yourself first and creating the space for you to do things that bring you joy. What will you do to develop self-awareness and say no more often?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Helps You Deal with a Difficult Boss - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Helps You Deal with a Difficult Boss

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Perhaps you’re in a situation where you have a difficult boss and feel powerless to do anything about it. A difficult boss is someone who uses power and control to intimidate, threaten or keep his (or her) employees off-balance. Even though it takes some effort, there are concrete things you can do to increase self-awareness, take charge of your own reactions, care for yourself, and lessen the impact your boss has on you. The following are some practical ideas to help you deal with a difficult boss:

1. Realize the boss’ behavior is not about you and not personal. He was that way before he (or she) met you. The only thing you can control is deciding whether his behavior will affect you. You, in effect, decide how much power you are going to give this person.

2. Find common ground. Use your listening and open-ended question asking skills to connect with the boss. Re-focusing your energy to learning about the other person has a way of moving the conversation in a different direction than simply getting into arguments.

3. Take care of yourself. Seek the comfort of people who can support and help you. A co-worker, a friend, a consultant, or a counselor can help you take care of yourself and take some of the negativity out of your brain. Do things that bring you pleasure at work and when you’re off rather than things that feed your boss’ issues.

4. Decide what is right for you. We sometimes reach points where we need to decide if the grief of a difficult boss is worth staying in the position. Only you know the answer. Remember that life is short and difficult bosses come and go. Only you have the power to control your destiny and life, so make the most out of it.

5. Tell your boss in a kind and respectful way how you like to be treated. Don’t use the word you, become emotional, or attack. Simply use “I” messages such as, “I like for people to talk to me respectfully,” that aren’t accusatory or single out the difficult boss. Do a web search for effective communication skills or work with a consultant to help you develop effective conversation strategies.

There is no written rule that you have to endure punishment or that you can’t become more skilled in dealing with difficult people. You have a lot of control if you are willing to practice the ideas listed above. What will you do to develop self-awareness and deal positively with a difficult boss?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Esteem Building with a Self-Awareness Consultant - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Esteem Building with a Self-Awareness Consultant

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A self-awareness consultant can help you build your self-esteem by helping you connect with who you really are and discover your strengths and talents. We are all born with an amazing range of skills and interests. I always recommend that people connect with what they really want to do.

  • If you love art, pursue art.
  • If you love business, start a business.
  • If you love sports, play sports.

For any dream you have there is a practical way you can get started. If you love writing you can do any number of things today to start following your dream. The only thing stopping you is you.

A self-awareness consultant can help you get unstuck and tap into the wonderful talents you possess. I work with people just like you so that you can figure out what you want out of life and develop a plan to achieve it.

A self-awareness consultant is a person who believes in you, listens to you and supports your dreams and ambitions. I love helping people live the lives they want and experience possibilities. I can’t think of anything more rewarding that watching someone experience the joy that comes from living the life they want to live.

Cheers,

Guy

Learn more about my self-awareness consulting.

The Self-Awareness Guy