Self-Knowledge Archives – Page 8 of 39

Self-Awareness Can Help You Talk about Difficult Topics

November 27, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Self-awareness can help you talk about difficult topics with others because, the more you know yourself, the better able you are to have complex conversations with others.

There’s a frequently recited adage that you shouldn’t talk about religion and politics in polite company, advice created by people who don’t know how to talk about charged topics without getting angry or hurt. The key to effective communication is for the participants to have the self-awareness to realize that other people’s ideas, beliefs, values and opinions aren’t necessarily an attack on their own, just another perspective. Here are some ideas that will help you talk about difficult issues in your personal or professional life:

Go in with good intentions. Keep an open mind and engage in the conversation with the idea that you’re going to learn something and that you’ll do everything you can to make sure things go well.

Assume the other person isn’t trying to hurt you. Interact based on the premise that you’re having a positive two-way conversation, not that you’re walking into a life-threatening ambush.

Listen to the other person. Don’t talk, interrupt or give your opinion, just listen actively and learn about the other person’s point of view whether you agree with it or not.

Practice self-awareness. Be aware of your own thoughts, feelings and actions and manage them so you don’t get angry or defensive.

Stay calm. Communication doesn’t have to be a contact sport, it can be calm and pleasant.

Resist the urge to fight back. Increase your chances of interacting positively by keeping yourself under control.

Avoid participating in an argument. Look at the conversation as an opportunity to learn about another perspective instead of creating conflict.

Realize the other person’s point of view is just a point of view. No matter what someone says, it doesn’t mean that you have to change your values or beliefs.

Know when to back off. Sometimes people aren’t ready or able to talk about a certain topic. Let them know you’re available to talk when they’re ready.

Individuals who understand and master these skills are able to talk about any issue because their communication style shifts from confrontational to actively listening to what other people are saying. Virtually nothing someone else says merits an explosive reaction unless you decide it does. The key to effective communication is to move from reacting viscerally to consciously working on listening, learning and getting along with the other person. What will you do to increase your self-awareness so you’re able to talk about difficult topics?

Cheers,

Guy

Using Self-Awareness to Overcome Your Fears

November 27, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

You can use self-awareness to overcome your fears because, the more you understand your emotions, thoughts, and actions, the easier it is to not be scared of things.

Fear often keeps us repeating the same patterns, even to the extent of repeating behaviors we dislike. We get stuck doing the same thing over and over and don’t see a way out. Overcoming fears is a challenge we avoid because we tend to hang on to the familiar rather than the unknown.

The paradoxical thing is that the unknown can often lead us in new and wonderful directions we couldn’t even imagine when we started out. Facing your fears is a matter of finding out what they are, where they come from and taking action to move in a different direction. Here is what some smart people have to say about the subject.

Bonaro W. Overstreet

Perhaps the most important thing we can undertake toward the reduction of fear is to make it easier for people to accept themselves, to like themselves.

Don Miguel Ruiz:

Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive — the risk to be alive and express what we really are.

Dorothy Thompson:

Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.

Eleanor Roosevelt:

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do. What will you do to use your self-awareness to move beyond fear?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Being Sensitive

November 22, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

A lot of people who are labeled sensitive go through life being mocked or belittled for having an extraordinary way of looking at the world. Being sensitive simply means that you have the self-awareness to be in touch with deeper feelings and are able to experience things more intensely and fully.

Being a sensitive person requires a lot of courage because you’ll likely feel things that others are afraid of, don’t want to deal with, or will never get close to experiencing. That’s what makes you unique and wonderful, the ability to examine yourself and the world around you and feel things that are important to anyone who wants to live with self-awareness.

As a highly sensitive person, I feel things in my heart; literally like a flooding sensation in my chest. I’m tuned into what others are thinking and feeling even when they aren’t. There have been times in my life when I was told to squelch these feelings and it made me feel horrible about myself. Luckily, as I kept building my self-awareness, I realized that I could actually be myself and make a career of it, which allowed me to live a meaningful, happy life.

What will you do to increase your self-awareness and be a sensitive person?

Cheers,

Guy

Using Self-Awareness to Improve Relationships

November 22, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

You can use self-awareness to improve your relationships starting today because, when you understand how your emotions, thoughts, and actions affect your interactions with others, you’re better able to connect with them positively and understand where they’re coming from.

It’s easy to focus exclusively on our own perspective in relationships. We tend to think of our relationship issues in terms we are familiar with and this often means we keep repeating the same patterns and acting the same way we always have. This works well if we get great results but what happens if our behaviors always lead to less than satisfactory relationships.

We all know people who lack self-awareness and never quite resolve their differences with others, and we watch them repeat the same pattern over and over. I’ve noticed that it is helpful to let in some new information and get a fresh perspective. When we let new information in it’s like opening a window in a stuffy room, we can breathe better and think more clearly. Think about some of the following ideas next time you feel stuck in your relationship.

1. Who can I turn to that is not involved in my situation and can give me impartial advice?
2. Am I willing to let an outside person offer me advice?
3. How open am I to talking about personal issues with an outside person?
4. How open am I to doing the work necessary to move in a different direction?
5. What actions will I commit to doing?

Think about these questions and keep in mind that none of us has all the answers but we all have the ability to improve our self-awareness and acquire new information if we are open enough. Let some air in, enjoy a fresh perspective and start moving in a new direction. What will you do to increase your self-awareness so you can improve your relationships?

Cheers,

Guy

How to Achieve Goals and Increase Self-Awareness

November 17, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Here are some practical tips to achieve goals and increase self-awareness:

Pick one issue you want to work on. Define it as specifically and narrowly as possible.
Keep your goal manageable. For example: “I will write one chapter of my book,” “I’m going to work on 50 books.” This sets you up for success instead of feeling disappointed because you took on too much at once.
Monitor your progress and celebrate as you go along. When you accomplish one task, congratulate yourself and reflect on the great work you did.
Keep taking small steps even when you don’t feel like it. You will feel at times that nothing positive is happening. Keep pushing through those thoughts by continuing to take action.

An important part of self-awareness is to keep things manageable and work little by little. It’s the small steps that eventually lead to big results.

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Your Perspective

November 7, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Perspective affects everything you do in life. For example: A person in Bangladesh living in complete poverty can be very happy while a person in an affluent neighborhood in the United States can be miserable. Your level of self-awareness affects your perspective on life because, when you’re comfortable with your thoughts, feelings and behaviors, you’re able to maintain a positive outlook.

Perspective is the way you see the world based on your self-awareness and personal experiences. If you filter out the positive, you tend to focus on the things that aren’t going well. If you filter out the negative, you’re better able to see the beneficial side of things. A great example of perspective is found in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Tiny Tim doesn’t have use of his legs but he doesn’t wallow in self pity, he forges on and is a source of strength for his family.

You’re faced with important choices throughout your life. At any moment you can choose your perspective and that will lead you down a certain path. Try this simple exercise: The next time you feel you can’t overcome an obstacle, consciously tell yourself, “I can handle this,” or some other positive affirmation. This will help you shift from a negative to a positive perspective.

It’s amazing what can happen when you choose a perspective that gives you the power to move forward rather than staying stuck. What will you do to view the world from a positive perspective?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness Leads to Success in Life and Your Career

November 2, 2023 - The Self-Awareness Guy

Many people who lack self-awareness spend a lifetime searching for the secret to success when it is in front of them the whole time. There really isn’t a magic secret to being successful in life and your career, it just requires purposeful action. Purposeful action means that we behave in a fully conscious manner and think about every action that we take. We don’t leave things to chance, except when appropriate, and we purposefully do things to improve things about ourselves. We don’t let life happen to us, we make it happen.

Thinking successfully requires that we build self-awareness and re-program some of our previous thought patterns. We benefit from consciously moving past the messages about not being successful or having to rely on others for our fulfillment. We also purposefully leave behind the self-talk about not being able to achieve greatness or not deserving a good life. Our new way of thinking allows us great freedom because we get to create success by simply doing things that lead in that direction.

The following steps will help you achieve what you want in life but there is one condition: You have to do them. Take some time to walk yourself through these ideas slowly and deliberately, the answers will lead you toward your dreams and aspirations.

1. Identify something you want to achieve in life.
2. Brainstorm different tasks that will help you achieve your goal.
3. Pick one task and follow it through to completion. Assign yourself a realistic time limit.

When you are done with these three steps repeat them by going back to your brainstorm list and working on one of the other ideas or by starting at number one again. Use these steps to keep moving and continue taking action toward your dreams. Here’s what the process might look like as you answer the questions:

1. I want to start my own business . (This is where you identify your dream).

2. Tasks involved in starting my business: (This is where you brainstorm ideas).
a. What kind of business.
b. Taking a class in starting a business.
c. Making contacts.
d. Talking to business people.

3. I will decide what kind of business really excites me. I will do this within the next week. (This is where you choose a task and complete it).

When you complete number three, then simply repeat. Success is based on continuous movement and action and going through these steps helps you keep going. If you don’t actually do stuff you never get beyond the idea phase, you benefit greatly from completing tasks. Before you know it you will be on your way to completing one, two, ten, forty, fifty tasks and you will be moving down the road you used to only dream of.

People who lack self-awareness get stuck because they keep repeating the same actions over and over. These three steps allow you to interrupt that cycle. With each action you complete you become stronger and more successful. Don’t worry too much about what goal you choose or what action to take, it is the act of doing things that creates the change in your life.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and be successful in life and your career?

Cheers,

Guy