Whenever we decide to make a change, engage in self-improvement, break a bad habit and adopt a new healthy habit, set a goal, strive for success, make something better, learn, grow, be a good leader, or do so many things in life, the best place to start is with self-awareness.
Self-Awareness.
I’m sure you’ve heard the term. But what is it exactly?
Self + awareness = knowing yourself
Self-awareness is the ability to notice your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, to really see yourself clearly and objectively, to really really look at yourself. It’s about being honest with yourself. It is seeking to understand all aspects of yourself.
Self-awareness involves looking at connections and patterns in your own thoughts and behaviors over time, and what things may lead to other things. It can include looking at what situations tend to make us react in certain ways. With that, we can begin to understand why we might do certain things, which sets us on a better path to healing. It lets us change what we want to change, improve upon other things, and develop strengths and skills out of talents, attributes, and interests.
Self-Awareness Defined:
Self-awareness can be defined as the ability to monitor our inner and external world; having a deep understanding of yourself, your values, strengths, weaknesses, habits, why you do the things you do, think the things you think, feel the way you feel.
It is an ongoing process. It’s a journey of self-discovery, introspection and reflection that leads to better insight (which is a deeper level of self-awareness, knowledge and understanding), and self-acceptance.
Being self-aware allows us to be honest with ourselves and others, to be our authentic selves, to change, learn, and grow and to become and achieve what we want.
Self-awareness is an essential component of therapy and counseling, and any program or pursuit that involves improving ourselves and our lives. Without self-awareness, how can we change and grow? If we aren’t aware of our current situation, how can we change it? How can we make it better? If we don’t know where we are now and where we’ve been, how can we know where we’re going? We need to know our starting point. We need to know what we’re working with.
Self-Awareness Outcomes:
How do we become more self-aware? There are several ways.
These include activities that prompt and encourage us to reflect on our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, and may involve journaling, meditation, and taking quizzes and tests on our personality, aptitudes, interests and so on.
Download this FREE page with self-awareness suggestions here.
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And, get your FREE one-page self-awareness suggestion guide.
