It’s impossible to solve a problem you don’t know about; you cannot give what you don’t have, you can’t pour from an empty cup. If you think about these words carefully, you will realize that to perform each action, I mean to solve a problem, or to give what you have comes with the ability to be self-aware. You need to deliberately practice self-awareness.
In growing, one thing is essential — you should consciously try to discover yourself. Who are you? What do you stand for? What kind of person do you want to be? What are your values? These are self-awareness questions.
The dictionary defines self-awareness as the conscious knowledge of one’s character and feelings. In my words, self-awareness is the ability to know who you are, understand your emotions, see the kind of energy you can accommodate — basically knowing yourself on a deeper level.
Tasha Eurich, a researcher, an organizational psychologist, came up with two categories of self-awareness: internal self-awareness, and external self-awareness.
Internal self-awareness is how you see your values, passions, aspirations, and how well those standards fit your environment and your reactions (which include thoughts, feelings, behaviors, strengths, and weaknesses).
External self-awareness, on the other hand, is the ability to see how other people view you. For example, understanding how your team views the email you sent or how your friends take the way you speak to them.
That being said, you need to understand the importance of this thing called “Self-awareness”.
The Importance Of Being Self-aware
The 4 importance of self-awareness I will mention below have given me a better understanding of self-awareness.
First, with self-awareness, you become more proactive and forward-thinking. You immediately see your confidence and self-esteem increase.
Second, you make better decisions and understand the “why” behind every decision. This expands your thinking and perspective on how you see things and take action.
Third, you become more emotionally intelligent. Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage your emotions and that of others. But can you manage your own feelings when you’re not even aware of it? No, you can’t. This is a black or white situation — it’s either you’re aware, or you’re not.
Lastly, self-awareness allows you to advance and learn from anything life throws at you. The ability to manage every emotion you feel, how you react, and what your actions are.
Over the years, I have developed self-awareness through the following steps. Trust me, it has not been rosy, but I have consciously and deliberately made an effort to achieve this. These methods still work for me and have worked for my friends too.
Be willing to learn with an open mind
The first idea behind self-awareness is you being open-minded and teachable. Always ask people questions, to know what triggers certain emotions. One thing is very crucial, which is listening; listen to your friends, colleagues, and family. When listening, be mindful, don’t just hear but digest their feedback to become better and more self-aware.
I remember one time at work, I sent an email to a senior colleague, I never knew this email was rude. I only thought I was trying to be firm until a colleague of mine, who was also my friend, told me about how that senior colleague ranted about it to other coworkers and how everyone she read it to perceived it as rude. I felt really bad as my intention was not to be rude or in any way hostile. After that, I took that feedback, and every time I am not sure about an email or a message, I ask my friends if they think it’s rude or can be interpreted wrongly. This is me deliberately trying to be better and work on my external self-awareness.
Take time out to reflect
The more you reflect, the more you realize secrets about yourself. Ask questions like “what made me act or react that way?” “what triggered my action?” “what triggered these emotions?” This will help you in achieving success both at work in other areas of your life. Always give yourself time for self-reflection. These things will shape your life in a direction you never imagined. Every week, I take some time to reflect on what I achieved, what I did wrong, what I did right, the behaviors and attitude I need to improve on. Again, this takes conscious effort and the help of friends.
Practice Mindfulness
Being mindful is an attribute of successful people. They do things with a purpose in mind. They are conscious of everything and understand the “why” behind every move. That’s what you should do. Mindfulness forces you to focus on yourself in the present moment. Next time you’re feeling frustrated at work, use mindfulness to check-in with yourself.
In conclusion, never forget that being self-aware is a journey; every day, you discover new things about yourself, new emotions, new triggers, and how to handle people better. Experiencing yourself as a unique individual will help you build your area of strength and identify areas you will like to improve. The more you know about your habits, the easier it is to improve those habits. Overthinking will not get you anywhere but waste the time you could have invested in self-improvement.
