Self-Knowledge Archives – Page 38 of 39

12 Obstacles to Building Self-Awareness

January 26, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Many intelligent and accomplished people don’t realize that self-awareness can help them enjoy deeply fulfilling and meaningful lives. They think that self-awareness is some touchy-feely nuisance that doesn’t yield tangible results. Self-awareness is a key part of being happy and living a fulfilling life because, when you understand yourself well, you experience the world as the real you rather than living unconsciously or based on what others expect you to do. Here are twelve obstacles to building self-awareness:

Fear of unpleasant emotions.
Fear of opening a pandora’s box of memories.
It’s easier to live unconsciously.
It’s easier to live through other people than to take the risks involved with living a genuine life.
It’s easier to give the responsibility for your happiness or success to someone or something else.
Self-awareness takes a lot of work.
It’s difficult to break habits.
People are comfortable doing what they’ve always done, even if it’s not working.
Self-awareness isn’t tangible like building something or making money.
People don’t see the value in getting to know themselves.
People feel uncomfortable focusing on themselves.
Fear of trying something new.

Building self-awareness isn’t some abstract concept that only works in books. When you get to know yourself better, you live a happier life because you understand understand why you do the things you do. The ultimate goal of self-awareness is to know yourself so well that you’re comfortable living as the real you.

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Fixing a Family Problem

January 25, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-awareness can help you fix a family problem because, when you understand how everyone’s emotions, thoughts, and actions, affect each other, then you’re able to work on solutions to even the most difficult situations.

For much of history we have viewed the family as a unit that helped us
with survival. We depended on each other because there was strength and
security in numbers. Recent developments in society and technology have
allowed us to experience the family differently than we used to. We now
are able to work on making our families as healthy as possible—a
concept that our ancestors never even contemplated.

With this new ability to improve the health of our families comes a great
opportunity to enjoy our family relationships like never before. We
also get to face challenges in new ways. In the past we let conflict
fester and continue throughout our lives. We didn’t have the tools to
actually fix things. Now we do and consulting gives families some tools
they can use to increase the happiness in their homes.

Some basic things you can think about when a family problem arises include:

What is the problem really about?
Do you know what each family member thinks about the problem?
Have you all worked together to come up with possible solutions?
Is everyone’s voice listened to and given equal weight?
Does everyone know how to listen to other points of view?
Can people deal with conflict without escalating?
Is conflict an opportunity for change in your family?
How are your communication skills?
Do you have a consistent system for resolving problems in the family?
Do you ask for neutral help or advice from uninvolved third parties?

Resolving problems in the family has a lot to do with the skills and experiences we bring to the table. A lot of us repeat the patterns we saw at home but we now have the benefit of new strategies to actually resolve
problems rather than perpetuating them. Consider some of the following
ideas to help your family increase self-awareness and move forward positively:

Develop a conflict resolution strategy.
Develop communication skills.
Develop listening skills.
Work together.

It’s amazing how those four basic elements can help families resolve
problems. Most of our families are not set up to fix problems, just
make them go away temporarily. I enjoy consulting for parents to create
new ways of actually fixing problems in the family, so everyone involved can feel included and valued.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and fix the problems in your family?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Critical Thinking

January 25, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

If you’re actively working on increasing your self-awareness then you’re familiar with critical thinking, the process by which you determine whether something is true or false. When you’re able to use facts to determine whether something is valid or not, you’re better equipped to deal with any situation that comes your way and live a happier life. Let’s look at the difference between an individual who doesn’t think critically and one who does:

Person 1

Someone says something to this person that scares her. She can’t figure out what to do and doesn’t know how to assess what’s true or false about what she’s being told. Because she doesn’t understand the topic at hand, she draws conclusions based on visceral feelings, suppositions, or hunches rather than facts. Unable to ascertain what’s really going on, she remains uninformed and fearful.

Person 2

This person has been told the same thing, initially feels scared, but has the presence of mind to evaluate the topic. She does some research to determine what is true or false about what she’s been told based on demonstrable and verifiable facts. She is able to view the issue in context and asses its likely impact on her life. She reacts appropriately based on the information she’s collected.

You’ll be much more likely to live a meaningful and balanced life if you take the time to determine what’s actually true or false about any given topic or situation. Some people leave things to emotion, chance, or superstition; you can choose to take a dispassionate look at the issue and deal with it based on demonstrable facts. How will you use your critical thinking skills?

Cheers,

Guy

Why Does Self-Awareness Matter at All?

January 24, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Why does self-awareness matter at all? Because it’s the key to living a deeply fulfilling, happy and authentic life. Imagine waking up each day, doing things that mean something to you and behaving like the real you. So many people spend their lives trying to be someone else or thinking and behaving in ways that don’t reflect who they really are deep inside that they miss out on being themselves.

When you build self-awareness you give yourself the gift of being yourself without having to ignore, compromise or minimize your amazing ideas, talents and abilities. You get to do what you find meaningful and live in a way that’s free from the restrictions and limits that many other people experience.

Self-awareness matters because you get to be your wonderful self.

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Being Damaged

January 23, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-awareness is a quality that is in short supply in deeply damaged people because they tend to behave unconsciously, based on their inner pain. When someone is hurt at a core level and lashes out based on those inner wounds, it’s a visceral reaction rather than one based on careful deliberation. Here are some characteristics of a deeply damaged person:

Thinking, feeling and behaving negatively based on past hurts.
Lack of empathy toward others.
Rigid thinking and inability to consider other points of view.
Inability to heal.
Reluctance to change, stuck in current way of doing things.
Lashing out at others based on unresolved issues inside himself.
Unwilling to examine what causes his inner turmoil.
Lack of understanding of what will really make him happy.
Seeks approval from people who don’t really value him.
Pattern of negative relationships.
Harsh, hard, commanding personality on the outside, fragile on the inside.
Lies to self and others to justify incongruous, inconsistent thoughts and beliefs.
Treats other people poorly, a reflection of his inner feelings about himself.

If you’ve ever met a person like this, you’ve probably gotten a creepy feeling about them, unless you fall into this category, in which case the behavior seems normal. Thankfully, even deeply troubled people can change the course of their lives by replacing their old thoughts and behaviors with more positive ones. It’s a long and arduous process, but anyone with the will to let go of the damage and love themselves is capable of doing it.

The key to being genuinely happy in life is to think and behave positively to make the world a better place for yourself and others. Self-awareness allows you to take a careful, meaningful look at yourself and heal the hurts that keep you from being your true, shiny self. What will you do to move beyond the damage?

Cheers,

Guy

self-awareness consulting

Self-Awareness Leads to Real Happiness

January 21, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

A lot of people claim they’re happy and then think, say, and do things that indicate they’re not. The thing I like so much about self-awareness is that it’s an actual path to happiness, not just some false assertion. Here’s how it works:

You take an ongoing, honest, candid look at yourself, examining your strengths and areas for improvement.
You identify the parts of your life that don’t lead to joy, these are often the remnants of your formative years when you were hurt in some way.
You feel all the emotions related to your past hurts and actively work on healing them. You go to therapy if necessary.
You begin forming a clear picture of your whole self.
What you feel, think, say, and do all follow the same path and don’t conflict with each other.
You identify who you genuinely are deep inside and what you really want to do with your life.
You take action every day to live life as the real you.
Your level of kindness and compassion toward yourself and others keeps growing.
You feel, think, and behave positively toward yourself and others; not just say you do.
You become so happy inside that you make the world a better place for everyone.

If you value self-awareness, you’re likely doing one or several of these things right now and you’re on your way to living a peaceful, loving, balanced, dynamic, fulfilling, healthy life. What does real happiness mean to you?

Cheers,
Guy

Live the One Life You Have with Self-Awareness

January 21, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

I always encourage people to live the one life they have with self-awareness because it will help them navigate all the challenges they will face. Once you understand your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, you’ll be able to live a deeply fulfilling, meaningful existence.

Perspective frequently makes the difference in the choices you make in life. If you feel a sense of urgency, you are more likely to try to accomplish a task. People motivate themselves in different ways but a key characteristic of those who create movement is a sense that they have to get it done.

You only have one life to live so you might as well make the most of it. Why then is it that people spend incredible amounts of time and effort on everything but what is truly meaningful to them? It’s almost as if someone told them along the way that they couldn’t accomplish what they wanted in life. So they settle for what comes their way, focusing on subsistence rather than growth.

A positive way to improve self-awareness and begin redirecting your thoughts is to ask yourself, “If I only had one week to live, what would I want to do?”

Life is a precious and finite gift. Why would anyone choose to live it without doing something they really love? Think about your own situation and think about what you really want to do in life. Then put some thought into increasing self-awareness and what you can actually do to incorporate your dreams into your everyday life. As you begin working on your dreams, you will begin feeling happier and more balanced because you are connecting with who you really are. Life is just funner when you’re doing stuff you like.

Build in some urgency starting today. What will you do to improve your self-awareness and live the life you really want to?

Cheers,

Guy