Personal Awareness

Self-Awareness Means Getting to Know Yourself Well - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Means Getting to Know Yourself Well

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Self-awareness is the process of getting to know yourself well. The more you know who you are deep inside, the better chance you have of coaching your life in a positive direction. As you build your self-awareness you:

  • Discover how your thoughts affect your progress in life.
  • Learn how to think positively and take action.
  • Learn how to deal with your feelings.
  • Resolve difficult issues in your life.
  • Heal your hurts.
  • Listen to your inner voice.
  • Live consciously and authentically.
  • Be the real you.

The more self-awareness you build, the more likely you are to live a deeply fulfilling and meaningful life because you’ll be tapping into your innermost strengths, talents and abilities. Getting to know yourself means that you comprehend who you are and why you do the things you do.

Cheers,

Guy

Lack of Self-Awareness Leads to Uninspiring Leadership - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Lack of Self-Awareness Leads to Uninspiring Leadership

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Many intelligent, dedicated professionals practice the time-honored tradition of uninspiring leadership. They don’t do it on purpose, it’s just that they’re used to the “Giving Orders and Controlling People” model of leadership instead of leading with self-awareness. Uninspiring leadership doesn’t have to be the norm because there are positive alternatives available to anyone who chooses to use them. The first step to shifting your leadership approach is to assess whether you practice uninspiring leadership, that is, behaviors like the following:

  • Lack of empathy.
  • Getting angry at people.
  • Not trusting employees.
  • Lacking organization.
  • Not delegating.
  • Not admitting mistakes.
  • Not believing change is possible.
  • Adhering to one way of doing things.
  • Continuing to do things that don’t work.
  • Thinking you have all the answers.
  • Resistance to new ideas or approaches.
  • Not listening to people.
  • Imposing solutions from outside.
  • Not asking for or valuing employee input.
  • Lack of self-awareness.

If you want to do the things on this list, you’re welcome to and you’ll see results based on your actions. If you’d rather inspire yourself and others, then you’ll do the opposite of these things, for example: If you don’t currently delegate effectively, work on learning how to delegate. Inspiring leadership is about having the self-awareness to let go of the thoughts and behaviors that don’t work and replacing them with new approaches that yield positive results. This gives you the power to choose how you think and behave in the workplace and what kind of leadership style you prefer. What will you do to increase your self-awareness and practice inspiring leadership?

Cheers,

Guy

8 Ways Self-Awareness Helps Leaders Inspire and Motivate - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

8 Ways Self-Awareness Helps Leaders Inspire and Motivate

/ / Self-Awareness in Leadership / ,

Most leaders have a grasp on how to give orders but much less of an idea of how to inspire and motivate beyond setting a positive example or giving enthusiastic speeches. The missing element is self-awareness, as in the leader’s knowledge of himself (or herself) and how he affects himself and others. Here are some examples of how self-awareness builds leadership excellence:

  • Self-awareness helps leaders manage  their own thoughts, emotions and behaviors so that they don’t transfer or project them onto employees.
  • Self-awareness helps leaders behave consciously and proactively instead of reacting based on their unresolved inner hurts or ego.
  • Self-awareness helps leaders get out of the way and let their employees shine.
  • Self-awareness helps leaders feel more balanced.
  • Self-awareness helps leaders build happier workplaces.
  • Self-awareness helps leaders get rid of behaviors that don’t work and replace them with positive ones.
  • Self-awareness helps leaders evaluate their strengths and areas for improvement.
  • Self-awareness helps leaders welcome change and ambiguity.

Inspirational and motivational leaders understand that they have to be healthy in order to help their employees thrive. What would you add to this list?

Cheers,

Guy

Real Happiness Exists When You Have Self-Awareness - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Real Happiness Exists When You Have Self-Awareness

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

There have been many times over the years where I’m facilitating a workshop or consulting for someone and it’s apparent that the people involved don’t have self-awareness and really don’t believe deep inside that they can be happy or create an enjoyable workplace. This lack of optimism comes from deep inside and is often caused by messages people received as kids. If you’re constantly being told that life is hard and happiness is frivolous, you’ll tend to carry that view into every part of your existence.

You can be genuinely happy but it takes conscious effort and self-awareness. Here are two vital elements to help you get started:

  1. Believe that happiness exists.
  2. Be willing to let go of the thoughts and behaviors that get in the way of being happy.

Think about your own situation and whether you walk around thinking and behaving in ways that promote happiness. It’s up to you whether you want to create positive vibes in the universe or not. If you choose to focus on being happy and supporting others to do the same, you’ll live a much more enjoyable personal and professional life.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and be happy for real?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Communication in Relationships - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Communication in Relationships

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People 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 or colleagues and only know one communication style: The one they’ve used since they became adults. Learning a couple of basic skills can help you make the most of communicating with anyone. Try these ideas the 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 demonstrate self-awareness and help a conversation get started and build is to listen and ask questions. To be an 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 invites 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, better understanding of other people. What will you do to develop self-awareness and improve the communication in your relationships?

Cheers,

Guy

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

Self-Awareness and Resilience

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Self-awareness helps you build resilience so you’re able to bounce back from any setback in your life. When you understand your strengths and areas for improvement, you’re able to adjust accordingly, acquire extra knowledge when necessary, and make positive decisions that reflect who you really are.

People who get stuck often lack the perspective to realize that they have other options in life. They’re so focused on one way of doing things that they overlook the many other opportunities that could help them be much more flexible and happy. As you increase your self-awareness you’ll begin to understand that you have a lot of talents and abilities inside you to work through difficult times. Even when obstacles seem insurmountable, you’ll be able to draw on your self-knowledge and live happily and authentically. What will you do to increase your resilience?

Cheers,

Guy

15 Signs of Self-Awareness - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

15 Signs of Self-Awareness

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

Here are fifteen signs that a person has self-awareness:

  • Understand themselves better.
  • Behave proactively instead of reactively.
  • Connect more meaningfully with others.
  • Feel more at ease with themselves.
  • Have worked through past hurts.
  • Behave positively.
  • Pursue their dreams.
  • Enjoy positive relationships.
  • Treat others with kindness and compassion.
  • Have less conflict in their lives.
  • Understand where they end and others begin.
  • Have healthy boundaries.
  • Do things to help others.
  • Make the world a better place.
  • Live life based on their true selves.

You’ll know you’re around someone with self-awareness because they are following their dreams and do things in a way that bring joy to themselves and others. What would you add to this list?

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy