Self-Knowledge Archives – Page 14 of 39

Self-Awareness and Managing Expectations

June 11, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

When I talk with people who lack self-awareness, I often hear a recurring theme about not being loved or not having kindness reciprocated. This is a very common theme in relationships: one person expects one thing only to have their hopes dashed, the other seems oblivious.

The difficulty arises when we hold on to our expectations even when we see repeated evidence that we will never get what we expect. Expectations then become more of a hindrance than help. Some people hang on to expectations perhaps mistakenly thinking they stand for hope.

Hope is greatly affected by our level of self-awareness and the actions we take. If we move in directions that lead us down the same path no amount of hope can change the course. If, however, we do things differently then we can begin entertaining hope that things will change because we are actually breaking the patterns we’ve established.

Changing the way we do things is the only way to modify our situation. No amount of hope or expectations can take the place of real communication and work in our relationships. The great news is that we can do things to change the course of our relationships, they just take some courage and movement in a different direction.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and manage your expectations?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Balance

June 10, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-awareness helps you maintain balance between the various parts of your life because you’re able to step back and assess what you’re doing at any given moment. Many people live their entire lives without taking the time to examine their thoughts and actions and the reasons behind them. When you consciously and continuously review what you’re doing, you’re able to deal with a range of issues in your life, especially the difficult ones.

Putting off dealing with unpleasant or scary situations creates a lack of harmony in your life because, if you don’t fix things, they don’t go away. The irony is that, if you decide to resolve the challenges in your life instead of avoiding them or pretending they don’t exist, you give yourself the opportunity to live more meaningfully and happily.

Balance is about understanding that you are made up of different facets and that they all require attention to be healthy and happy. What will you do to invite balance into your life?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and the Joys of Letting Go

June 10, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-awareness helps you let go of negative issues and live joyfully because, when you understand your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, you’re able to focus on what’s really important in life rather than letting less crucial things hold you back.

Have you ever kept doing something even though you know it doesn’t work? Perhaps you keep enabling a negative behavior in yourself or someone else. This is natural because we tend to be most comfortable with what we know. The next time you find yourself hanging on to this negative thing try something new and let it go.

The act of consciously letting go and moving on helps us heal and think of new perspectives. People who let go of the monkey on their back suddenly find they can walk taller and more comfortably. We can take a breath and see our issues for what they really are; things that we can actually deal with. When we give negative behaviors less importance they have a way of going away.

Try letting go sometime, because everyone deserves to feel unburdened. What will you do to develop self-awareness and let go of the things that don’t bring you joy in life?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Finding Meaning in Your Life

June 9, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Many people who lack self-awareness never find meaning in their lives, even when they actively search for it. If you’re on a quest to find meaning in your life here are some ideas to help you find your own answers:

Find meaning in yourself, that’s where it lives.
Get to know yourself first.
Don’t look on the outside for meaning, it’s inside you.
Meaning is the same as fulfillment and fulfillment is doing the things that resonate inside you.
You’ll find more meaning if you’re willing to look deep inside yourself and deal head-on with the hurts you carry.
Don’t let other people tell you what’s meaningful, you decide.
Spend conscious and deliberate time doing things that speak to the deeper part of you. In other words, do the things you love each day.
Listen to your heart. It will tell you if you are moving toward a meaningful work life or not.
Meaning seldom comes from money or power.

Think about these ideas the next time you are searching for ways to live meaningfully. You’ll find that you already have many of the answers inside you if you’re willing to listen. What will you do to develop self-awareness and find meaning in your life?

Cheers,

Guy

The Peace of Mind of Self-Awareness

June 9, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-awareness can bring you amazing peace of mind if you let it. The challenge is being able to let go of all the noise and obstacles that get in the way of learning about yourself and living authentically. A lot of people struggle with the idea that there is a different way of living where they get to be themselves and enjoy the results they get from thinking, feeling and acting naturally.

You can start increasing your peace of mind and self-awareness by taking time each day to think about your strengths and areas for improvement. Celebrate the wonderful things about you and also work on one thing you’d like to improve. Repeat the process and, along the way, you’ll discover more and more about your amazing gifts. What will you do to increase your self-awareness?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Dating

June 8, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

A recurring question my consulting clients ask me about dating is: “Why can’t I find anyone who is a good fit for me?” My response is often something along the lines of, “In what ways are you ready to find someone wonderful?” The idea in dating is to look at yourself and build self-awareness so that you’re as healthy as possible and ready to attract great people. Let’s look at a few dating conundrums and possible things you can do to move in a different direction:

1. I keep going out with bad boys/girls. Different direction: I get myself healthy enough to recognize that it’s OK to treat myself well and go out with positive people.

2. I feel lonely. Different direction: I actively work on things that resolve why I am lonely and emphasize learning about myself before dating.

3. Where can I meet people? Different direction: When you get yourself healthy and do the things you love you move in circles where you attract people who are like you.

4. All men/women are terrible. Different direction: There are a lot of great people out there we just need to learn to accept them into our lives and be healthy enough to encourage good people to go out with us.

Dating is ultimately what you make it because you have a lot of control over where it goes. When you’re aware of how your thinking and behaviors affect your dating approach you’ll be able to connect with amazing people rather than repeating the same patterns. What will you do to build your self-awareness and improve your dating life?

Cheers,

Guy

How to Become Self-Aware

June 7, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

People frequently ask me how to become self-aware. Here are five things you can do to start building your self-awareness:

Make a list of all the things you do that lead in a positive direction.
List the things that hold you back or lead in a less than positive direction.
List the emotions you most commonly feel. Subdivide this list into the emotions you have an easy time feeling and those you have a difficult time feeling.
Make a list of the things you really want to do in life, only list the things that are deep inside your heart, not the stuff you think you should do or others say you should do.
Write about who you really are as a person, who the real you is and what dreams that person has.

The important thing to remember is that self-awareness doesn’t happen all at once, it’s a process that takes time and deliberate effort. Take the time to thoroughly think about and work through each of these five steps and don’t move on to the next one until you’ve finished the one before it. The areas that you have the most difficulty with are the ones that you will benefit from spending more time on. By completing these steps you will learn about yourself and start identifying who you really are and what you want to do with your life.

Cheers,

Guy