Personal Awareness

Rude People Lack Self-Awareness - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Rude People Lack Self-Awareness

/ / Self-Awareness / , , ,

We’ve all met people who seem to enjoy being rude or do things that annoy or hurt others. This type of person usually doesn’t have a lot of self-awareness because, if they did, they would realize the consequences of their behaviors. People behave rudely for a variety of reasons including:

  • Insecurity and lack of self-esteem.
  • Fear of letting people get closer.
  • Lack of appropriate role models.
  • Inability to feel empathy.
  • Need to dominate others.
  • Protect themselves from people hurting them.
  • Negative attention-seeking behavior.
  • They’ve been hurt in the past and take it out on others.
  • Habit.
  • Lack of self-awareness.

People who behave rudely don’t usually do things consciously, they behave the way they do because they feel something horrible inside and don’t know what else to do.

The good news is that anyone can change direction, stop behaving like a jerk, and live a happier life by increasing their self-awareness. It starts with reflecting on who they are and healing their hurts so they can treat themselves and others well.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and avoid behaving rudely?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Success in Our Culture - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Success in Our Culture

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

Our culture often defines success it as having a lot of money, prestige, or power. My interpretation of success is building your self-awareness so you can be in touch with who you are inside and live in such a way that you don’t need to worry about wealth or influence.

There are countless really rich and powerful people who are miserable; you can tell because they don’t treat others well. Anyone who is willing to harm other people doesn’t feel good about himself or herself deep inside. Happy, balanced, fulfilled people treat themselves and others kindly because their lives are centered around creating a positive world rather than amassing wealth or crushing others.

I love consulting for people who value self-awareness because they tend to view success in terms of how healthy they are, not how much stuff they have or trophies they display on the mantle. Even if you don’t make a penny, you can still create something of great value.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and be meaningfully successful?

Cheers,

Guy

95 Ways Self-Awareness Helps You Live a Better Life - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

95 Ways Self-Awareness Helps You Live a Better Life

/ / Self-Awareness / , ,

Self-awareness helps you live a better life because it provides you a way to get in touch with who you are deep inside and live the life you really want to live. Here are some bits of wisdom to help you live a self-aware life.

  1. You deserve to be the real you.
  2. Self-aware people aren’t afraid of change.
  3. Have the courage to follow your own path in life.
  4. People who don’t listen to their inner voice are consistently miserable.
  5. If someone tries to tell you what to do with your life or who you should be, Run.
  6. Stop worrying what other people think about you and be whomever you want to be.
  7. Don’t give up your decision making power to others.
  8. Live your life consciously instead of just letting it happen to you.
  9. You can never be truly happy if you’re living your life through other people.
  10. Don’t let anyone tell you they have the answers you’re looking for. Only you have them.
  11. You will never find the answers you’re looking for if you keep looking outside yourself.
  12. Self-aware people are in touch with their emotions.
  13. The real you is always inside, waiting to be discovered.
  14. Create your own path in life, don’t worry about what anyone else says. Do your thing.
  15. We grow up with wonderful goals and dreams and then let other people knock them out of us.
  16. You’re magic. Don’t let anyone else convince you otherwise.
  17. Don’t try to be like anyone else but yourself.
  18. The only way to live a deeply fulfilling life is to tap into your true talents.
  19. Some people live their entire lives without getting to know themselves on a deeper level.
  20. Superficial feelings, thoughts, and actions will get you superficial results.
  21. Many people never pursue their dreams and realize it when it’s too late.
  22. The way to find meaning in life is to live based on who you really are deep inside.
  23. Compassion is a characteristic of people who possess self-awareness.
  24. Living a self-aware life means healing yourself.
  25. People who pretend they’re happy aren’t in touch with their true selves.
  26. Self-aware people live more authentic lives.
  27. Don’t let anyone tell you your dreams don’t matter.
  28. Find meaning inside yourself rather than looking outside for answers.
  29. If someone says they’re happy all the time, they probably aren’t.
  30. Living superficially may help you avoid difficult issues but will never lead to true happiness.
  31. Have the courage to pursue your dreams, you’re worth it.
  32. Listen to your inner voice, the one that tells you who you really are.
  33. If you’re always sad or angry, it means you’re not in touch with your deeper self.
  34. It’s okay to feel, think, and behave as the real you.
  35. Being an outsider is often a sign that you’re a deeper person and don’t think like everyone else.
  36. Your are an amazing being with wonderful potential.
  37. Searching outside yourself for answers leads to living someone else’s life.
  38. True happiness comes from understanding who you are and following your own path.
  39. Only you know what you really want to do in life.
  40. You can’t find meaning in life if you don’t search for the meaning inside you.
  41. Self-aware people understand other people’s struggles.
  42. You can’t live a self-aware life if you’re not thinking for yourself.
  43. People who are happy with themselves treat others with empathy.
  44. Living genuinely means looking deep inside yourself.
  45. The only thing that will ever make you truly happy is being the real you.
  46. When you know yourself deeply, you’ll naturally live a happier life.
  47. Celebrate who you are deep inside.
  48. Living a self-aware life means helping the most vulnerable among us.
  49. Good people treat everyone well.
  50. Self-aware people speak up against injustice.
  51. Living a self-aware life means making decisions for yourself.
  52. Morality comes from within you, not from the outside.
  53. Feeling your emotions is natural, healthy, and necessary to live a deeper life.
  54. Live the life you really want to live regardless of what others say.
  55. Believe in yourself first and foremost.
  56. The answer is always love.
  57. Living a self-aware life means making choices that make the world a better place for everyone.
  58. You can tell when someone is damaged because they try to damage others.
  59. A deeply meaningful life arises from ongoing introspection.
  60. Living a self-aware life means healing your own hurts.
  61. Being part of a herd means you’re not looking deep inside for your own answers.
  62. Critical thinking is vital to living a self-aware, more meaningful life.
  63. Living a self-aware life means moving past bigotry and prejudice.
  64. Only if you love yourself can you love others.
  65. Question everything, challenge conventions, develop your own voice.
  66. Walk the other way if someone tells you they have all the answers for you.
  67. A lot of people try to live through others instead of looking deep inside themselves and living their own lives.
  68. You’ll never be happy if you’re pretending to be someone you’re not.
  69. The only answers that matter are the ones inside you.
  70. Hate never leads to happiness.
  71. No matter how hard you try to pretend, you can never truly be happy if you’re not.
  72. It’s difficult to lead a self-aware life but much more rewarding.
  73. Most people spend their entire lives on the surface.
  74. Living a self-aware life means behaving with kindness and compassion.
  75. Living with self-awareness means reaching out to and helping people who are not like you.
  76. Only you know if you’re truly happy inside, deep down inside.
  77. It takes courage to think for yourself.
  78. Your moral compass comes from inside you, not from an external source.
  79. Meaning in life is derived from being someone who loves generously.
  80. Fully experiencing your emotions is part of living a self-aware life.
  81. Self-aware people experience things on a different level.
  82. Don’t give up your power. Look deep inside and find your own answers.
  83. You deserve to live life as the real you.
  84. It’s hard being a self-aware person but the reward is you get to live a conscious, fulfilling life.
  85. Are you a self-aware person? Congratulations! That means that you understand things that most people don’t.
  86. Don’t let anyone tell you who or what you should be. Look deep inside for the answers.
  87. Meaning in life comes from within.
  88. Living a self-aware life means you’re able to take an honest and thorough look at yourself.
  89. You can’t find external answers to internal questions.
  90. The whole point in life is to be yourself, not what someone else says you should be.
  91. Living a self-aware life means that you possess courage.
  92. Being creative means you’re able to be vulnerable enough to show the world who you are.
  93. You’ll never find the answers outside yourself. Look deep inside instead.
  94. Living a self-aware life means you’re willing to look at the hard stuff.
  95. Self-aware people make the word a better place.
Soft-Skills Training Doesn't Work for Leaders Who Lack Self-Awareness - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Soft-Skills Training Doesn’t Work for Leaders Who Lack Self-Awareness

/ / Self-Awareness in Leadership / , , ,

As part of my self-awareness consulting services, I design soft-skills training programs that help leaders create happier workplaces and I’ve noticed a recurring pattern over the years: Many people think that you can change behaviors overnight. They talk earnestly with me about team building or effective communication and expect that a one-day training will resolve everything. I’ve even had leaders and HR managers who lack self-awareness ask me to change how their employees communicate in one hour.

People mean well but the reality is that it takes considerable time and effort for training to take root in an organization. Otherwise it has little chance of having any impact. Here are ten practical ideas to improve your chances of success:

  1. Commit to training on an ongoing basis. It helps to have a set time and place for the training that people can rely on.
  2. Support employees so they can keep practicing the new skills they acquire.
  3. Involve leadership from the very beginning and have them be present and participating actively in the training.
  4. Don’t try to do it on the cheap. Your investment up-front often determines your long-term training success.
  5. Focus on improving behaviors.
  6. Conduct repeated training people can count on.
  7. Attendance isn’t optional.
  8. Set goals so you can measure success.
  9. Train trainers so they can keep the process going.
  10. Make the training part of your company culture.

Leaders who don’t do these things are the ones who lack self-awareness and lament that soft-skills training doesn’t work. Those who decide to focus on these areas find that the training they provide has a much better chance at succeeding. It almost always depends on how committed leadership is to making it work and whether they’re in it for the long-term.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and make sure your training works?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Emotional Intelligence - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Emotional Intelligence

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

Self-awareness and emotional intelligence are closely linked and when you have one, you’re likely to have the other. Let’s define the two, look at how they compliment each other, and how they can help you live a happier life.

The Definition of Self-Awareness

The ability to get to know yourself so well that you understand and are able to control how you feel, think, and behave in order to move your life in a positive, deeply meaningful direction with an intimate knowledge of who you really are deep inside.

The Definition of Emotional Intelligence

The ability to recognize, experience, understand, and modulate your own and others’ emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.

As you can see, these two concepts have a lot in common because they both refer to the ability to know yourself well enough to live a happy life instead of doing stuff that aggravates you and others. I’ve worked with a lot of people over the years to help them increase their self-awareness and emotional intelligence, here are some of the things they look at in order to grow and succeed:

  • Healing the unresolved, painful, or hurtful issues from their childhoods.
  • Taking an honest look at what they’re doing that doesn’t work.
  • Learning and practicing new, positive thoughts and behaviors.
  • Realizing emotions are positive and learning how to feel them.
  • Discovering who they really are deep inside and doing the things they love.
  • Living life authentically, from their hearts.
  • Practicing love, kindness, compassion, caring, both toward themselves and others.
  • Doing the hard work necessary to become healthy, including going to therapy for as long as it takes.
  • Having the courage to live life as their real selves.

Self-aware people possess emotional intelligence and vice versa. There is no mystery behind either concept, they just require work and a dedication to learn how to deal with emotions, thoughts, and actions. The end result of developing both is that you get to enjoy a wonderful life being the real, healthy you.

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Balancing Your Work and Personal Life - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Balancing Your Work and Personal Life

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

People who lack self-awareness often spend so much time at work that other areas of their lives suffer. It’s not uncommon for people to spend every waking moment toiling on some task related to the workplace. They spend much of their time scrambling around putting out fires rather than planning ways to do things more efficiently and enjoyably.

You can implement some basic steps that can help you increase self-awareness, bring your life into balance, and allow you to focus on what really needs attention. It all starts with prioritizing. Think about the following questions as you begin your workday:

1. What are the things I absolutely have to do right now?

2. What are the things I can do later?

3. What are the things I can have someone else do for me?

When you ask yourself these questions you begin to move away from emergency response mode and into self-awareness and planning deliberate actions each day. My consulting clients often tell me that, when they learn how to prioritize more effectively, they actually increase the time they have to focus on ways to grow their business.

The next area is your personal life. I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a healthy personal life. A healthy personal life will improve your general outlook and performance. Think about the following ideas and how they apply to you:

1. How much time have I set aside for my personal life today?

2. What can I postpone doing at work to spend more time on my personal life?

3. What have I done to take care of myself today?

Thinking about these questions allows you to pay more attention to yourself and the things you need to keep you feeling great. If you work too much, dial in a little more personal time. If you have too much free time, do a few more things to further your career. When you achieve work and personal life balance you will feel invigorated in all parts of your life and will be ready to take on any challenge that comes your way.

Ultimately, I would recommend that you pursue your dreams and do what you really want to do in life. When you live life authentically you don’t have to worry about work/life balance, you just get to be the real you each day. What will you do to develop self-awareness and enjoy life more?

Cheers,

Guy

Finding Inner Peace through Self-Awareness - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Finding Inner Peace through Self-Awareness

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

Self-awareness leads to inner peace because it means you’re working through your fears and hurts and sharing who you really are with the world. I was talking with a dear friend recently and mentioned how peaceful I feel each day when I’m doing what I love. I don’t have to worry about doing things I don’t like or pretending to be someone I’m not, I just have to show up and be me.

Inner peace comes from resolving your issues and following your authentic path in life. Self-awareness is a great tool to heal yourself because there are no limits to how much you can grow. You can explore as much or as little as you wish and all you have to do is be open to sharing your real self with the world. When I’m not helping people build self-awareness, I write poetry. It helps me connect with who I am at my core and express my innermost thoughts and feelings. When I’m writing poetry, nothing else matters because I’m just enjoying being the real me.

I enjoy helping people achieve self-awareness because I’ve made the journey from being clueless to being rather more enlightened. Along the way, I’ve learned how to be myself and enjoy life on a deeper, more harmonious level. What will you do to develop self-awareness and find inner peace?

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy