Personal Awareness

Self-Awareness Helps You Say What You Want to Say - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness Helps You Say What You Want to Say

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A big part of self-awareness is identifying who you are and what you really want to do in life. It’s being able to answer the question: “What do you have to say?” There is a simple beauty to sharing whatever is going on inside you. You don’t have to create some sweeping epic, just do things based on what you’re thinking and feeling inside. Forget about judging what you’re doing or comparing it to other people’s work, just use your own amazing voice.

When I write about self-awareness, I begin with no preconceptions. I let whatever thought is percolating in my mind guide my words. It doesn’t matter what the topic is, the only important thing is to listen to what my heart and mind say and be open to following my true instincts, which is what I encourage people to do in their own lives.

As you build your self-awareness, you’ll find it gets easier to just be yourself and let your true voice emanate from within you. You get to decide what floats your boat and is meaningful to you. Don’t miss the opportunity to share your amazing self with the world.

Each of us has valuable insights and perspectives to share with the world. What will you do to develop self-awareness and live the life you want to?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Making Things More Difficult for Others - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Making Things More Difficult for Others

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One of the characteristics of someone who lacks self-awareness is making things more difficult for others. When you don’t know yourself well, you can’t pull back far enough to realize how your behavior affects other people so you might do things like:

  • Treat people poorly.
  • Behave without empathy.
  • Think the whole world should bend to your point of view.
  • Frequently create situations that damage other people.
  • Do things that make others work harder.
  • Create a pattern of negative interactions and relationships.
  • Complicate things to gain power or control.
  • Make unrealistic demands.
  • Act as a gatekeeper.
  • Fail to take responsibility for your actions.

The antidote to these behaviors is to get to know yourself on a deeper level and become genuinely comfortable with who you are. The happier you are, the less stress you’ll create for others because you won’t be working out your personal issues on them. What will you do to make things less difficult for others?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware Leadership and Creating a Strategic Plan - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Aware Leadership and Creating a Strategic Plan

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Self-aware leaders are well-equipped to create a strategic plan because they don’t allow their own emotions, thoughts, and behaviors to get in the way of creating a path forward that helps their organization thrive.

When I consult with leaders and organizations they tell me about the gigantic strategic plans that sit on their bookshelves. While those plans include reams of valuable information and input, they collect dust because they are too complex for anyone to use as a reference.

I’m a strong advocate of being self-aware enough to get out of the way and keep things simple in order to live a happier life, so I thought I’d share my basic approach to strategic planning. Strategic planning doesn’t have to be a chore. If you think about it, a strategic plan is really just a document that describes what you want to do and how you’ll do it.

Use the following ideas to create a concise document that guides your organization and that people aren’t afraid to reference.

  1. What’s your mission? Write a one sentence mission statement. Keep it simple and speak from the heart. Think in terms of what it is you really want your company to stand for. Stay away from jargon and business speak and focus on a meaningful, basic idea of what your organization does.
  2. What are the things you do well? Make a brief list of the things your organization does well so that you know what you have to work with moving forward.
  3. What would you like to strengthen? Create a brief list of the areas where you need a little help.
  4. Where would you like to go? Write down three to five things you’d like your organization to accomplish. These should be deeply meaningful to your organization and reflect your mission.
  5. Who will do what and by when? Decide who will take on each part of where you want to go. This step is much more successful if people assign themselves the tasks. Create a date for completion of each task.

When you work on these five steps you will end up with a living, breathing document that is intentionally concise and open to re-interpretation and change. The whole idea of strategic planning is to give you a framework or foundation you can build on. You can always add more detail or specific tasks but you can’t do it if you don’t build a firm footing first.

Try these steps with a key group of individuals and you’ll be on your way to creating an easy strategic plan that encourages dynamic movement instead of confusion and heartburn. What will you do to develop self-awareness and create a usable strategic plan?

Cheers,

Guy

Why Self-Awareness Matters - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Why Self-Awareness Matters

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You’ve probably met people, even very successful ones, who behave like they’re clueless or unbalanced in some part of their lives. Perhaps they don’t deal with others very positively, can’t get past some childhood trauma or have ideas about the world that aren’t grounded in reality. What they’re often missing is self-awareness, the ability to understand how their thoughts, emotions and behaviors affect them and others.

People avoid looking at themselves because they’re afraid of what they might find. It takes courage to admit that they’re not perfect, that they’ve made mistakes, that they’ve been wrong in the past or that there are areas that need improvement in their lives. Those who do decide to take a candid look at themselves soon discover that they can live deeply satisfying, meaningful, healthy and balanced lives.

Self-awareness matters because you’re worth it. You deserve to live a fully conscious life that reflects the real you rather than doing all the other garbage that makes you (and the people around you) unhappy. When you understand who you are and why you think and behave the way you do, you get to live an authentic life being yourself rather than trying to be someone you’re not or relying on outside sources for your happiness.

Increasing your self-awareness gives you the opportunity to live the life you were meant to live without restrictions. It’s a journey that begins with your willingness to look at yourself honestly and become the most healthy, balanced you possible. How will you start building your self-awareness?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Your Worldview - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Your Worldview

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Your level of self-awareness deeply affects your worldview. If you believe that the world is an unforgiving place where people can’t be trusted or want to harm you then you’ll live your life in a particular way. If, on the other hand, you see the world as a place where people can be trusted and are generally well-meaning you’ll behave in other ways. Your worldview colors everything you do in life and will lead you down a certain path which can be beneficial or full of hindrances.

In order to increase your self-awareness and enjoy life, take some time to ask yourself where your assumptions about the world come from. Identify the beliefs you hold that keep you from living happily and take action to shift them in a more positive direction. For example: If you believe that you can’t talk with someone, consciously decide that you’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and communicate with them in a way that invites them to connect with you. It takes deliberate effort and courage to shift your worldview but it can help you live much more meaningfully. What will you do to create a positive worldview?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware People Are Compassionate - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Aware People Are Compassionate

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When you practice compassion as part of your  self-awareness journey you’ll find that you’re able to care for yourself and others. Compassion is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and treat them with care and kindness. In doing so you create positive energy in your life and in the world as well.

Compassionate human beings understand that they are not the only people in the world, that other individuals and groups have a different and valid experience. When you practice compassion, you are able to put your own experience and needs aside, really empathize with someone else, and recognize when they need help.

As you build your self-awareness, you will find that you become more comfortable and better able to manage your own emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, which will enable you to connect with others on a more meaningful level. The healthier you are, the more you are in a position to help others.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and practice compassion?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware People Do More Than Fixing Problems - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Aware People Do More Than Fixing Problems

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I have facilitated numerous workshops and consulted with myriad people who lack self-awareness and a common theme that comes up is the idea of fixing things. From an early age, we are taught to confront any problem with a fix. If someone says something to us in our personal or professional life we immediately jump and look for ways to fix it. While I like resolving issues, it’s also important to give some importance to just building self-awareness and working on things without fixing them. Next time someone comes to you with a problem, consider the following possibilities:

1. Listen without interrupting or offering advice.
2. Give yourself permission not to fix anything.
3. Let the person talk to you freely and give them the time to do so.
4. Even if you disagree, don’t rebut or become defensive.
5. Learn to recognize the things that trigger your defensiveness or anger.
6. Offer to listen to the person again.
7. Always remain calm and caring.

The act of listening changes the whole dynamic in relationships. Suddenly we can learn what other people really think and simply bond with them. This approach is different because it requires that, instead of talking or jumping in, we just let someone else tell us about the things they find meaningful. This approach greatly reduces hurt feelings and anger because it requires us to react calmly to anything another person says.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and stop fixing things?

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy