Personal growth: Self-Awareness
August 11, 2021 //
Table Of Contents:
Did you know that only 10-15% of people are truly self-aware! Crazy right, I am grateful and cursed with this trait, and it is the beautiful chaos of my life.
So the journey to self-awareness, here we go babes!
What is self-awareness?
By definition, this is the conscious knowledge of one's character, feeling, motives and desires. Being aware of your different aspects of self is one of the first components of the self-concepts to emerge.
Self-awareness is who you are. It will help you become a happier and more productive person and leader. It can help you align your current life with your passion.
Pretty much being self-aware gives you the superpower to know everything about your amazing self. You know your strengths and weaknesses. You can stop in your tracks and figure out what is going through your mind quickly when you have a nervous breakdown or reaching your goal potential.
What are the concepts of self-awareness?
Self-concept is a collection of beliefs about one's self. Pretty much the "Who am I?" thing from Kung Fu Panda.
Here are the 3 parts of your self-concept.
1.Self Imagine- How you see your abilities, appearance, and personality.
An example is, how you see yourself when you look in the mirror.
2.Self-Esteem- The worth in your abilities or self-respect.
An example is that you think highly of yourself with love. But, with low self-esteem, you can damage yourself beyond repair. Like, calling yourself unloved and useless every day.
3.Ideal-Self- Idealized version of yourself created out of what you have learned from life experiences.
An example is that you will excel in science. Or that you study a lot to better in that field.
Why does self-awareness help with personal growth?
So with this, you have a better understanding of yourself. You can see yourself as a unique person. With that empowerment, you can make changes, build your strength and identify improvements.
So with it, our traits, personal values, habits, emotions, and personalities can be acknowledged. We can then build of self developments.
What is a self-awareness example?
Being able to focus on something positive when in a negative situation.
An example is if you are at work and your boss is on your ass about finishing that project proposal. So, instead of getting stress and thinking that you will not be good enough. You stay positive and create a masterpiece of a presentation with a smile on your face.
In which, you will probably annoy your boss because you did not get stressed out. Smiley face.
Recognizing a bad habit and the effect it can have on you.
My all-time example of this is pushing that dang snooze button in the morning. It is a horrible habit when trying to be productive and trying to improve your personal growth.
You can check out my article Make Your Bed: But First, Coffee article for more information about it.
Learn about your emotional triggers, so you can better deal with negative emotions like anger or hate.
Basically, if someone makes you angry, it is very much known. So instead of you diving into the negativity and drowning it. You jump in a kayak and sail away. Going with the waves and in peace. You don't let someone else's negativity pull you down into the water.
How do you develop personal self-awareness?
Know what triggers your negative emotions.
For this, you need to understand your emotions. How you can do this is through guided mediation. A lot, of people, knock on it that have never even tried it.
It can help you identify the real feeling you are having and how you can change it for the better.
Reflect on the way you respond to things.
With this, I request journaling, my ultimate favorite thing to do when finding ways to respond to negativity. I will write out the scenario and then write what I want to say. Then I come up with a positive way to say it. I call it my "Bitch" journal.
You can find all about it here. Journaling: One Hell Of A Habit.
Give yourself some lag time before responding to things.
Please, Think before you speak. Please. Because most of the time when we don't, we say things that we shouldn't say. It is more of a head thought instead of a mouth saying you know.
I used to be terrible at this, I would blurt out the first thought that comes into my mind, and it put me in a lot of uncomfortable situations.
Again. Think before you do the speaking.
Know what makes you happy.
You can use a notebook and a piece of paper for this. I want you to write down everything that you are good at, I want you to take to the personality test and all in between to discover what makes you happy.
Your happiness is the number one priority in life. Because if you are not happy, you are not living the life you want. That is some bull snip. You deserve happiness babe.
Don't be fooled by a good mood or a bad mood.
Not going to lie when I first researched about this, I had no idea what it meant. I was like how the heck do I get fooled by a mood. Then I realized that I thought I was happy when I was binge eating a party pizza with mozzarella sticks on top (don't judge till you try it, it's so amazing!). But, in actuality, I was severely depressed.
This means that you do not let your emotions control your actions. Trust me, you do not want to be at the mercy of your emotions.
What are the types of self-awareness?
There are 3 types of self-awareness indexical, detached and social. Let's run through what they are.
Indexical: This is based on theoretical information that the subject has about herself.
In short, this means that you are aware of yourself.
Detached: This builds on conceptual capacities and knowledge of logical relationships. It consists of the ability to reason about oneself from a third-person view.
An example of this is when hearing a rumor. Instead of listening and getting involved, you leave that situation.
Social: Gives you the ability to emphasize with others and take in their perspective.
Imagine you will, someone is crying in front of you and talking about how they lost their job. You empathize and even shed a tear or to offering comfort.
What are the characteristics of self-awareness?
Who are you when you are self-aware? What does someone with self-awareness do? Below are 10 examples.
You’re able to look inside yourself.
You understand how your thoughts and behaviors affect you and the people around you.
You’re able to manage your emotions and comfortably deal with other people’s emotions.
You don’t walk through life hurting others.
You treat yourself and others well.
You live a meaningful and fulfilling life.
You know who you are deep inside.
You follow your dreams.
You listen to your inner voice.
You build healthy relationships.
What is a lack of self-awareness?
What does it mean to lack self-awareness? Meaning, you have failed to be alert, vigilant, or observant to your surrounding, Or even the job itself, and failure to recognize the consequences of your actions.
Here are 5 examples:
Your emotional reaction doesn't match the situation
You get defensive when receiving feedback
You repeat negative emotional patterns
The things you do to make you feel better don't make you feel better.
You haven't found a way to be consistently successful.
How do grow your self-awareness?
Becoming self-aware as possible. Use the tips below every day. Then you will be on your way to a happier and more successful you!
Look at yourself objectively.
By objectively, I mean to see your faults. What you need to improve on. It has to be stuff to make you better, not worse. So no, I am worthless stuff. Because it is not constructive.
Instead try, " I need to wake up earlier". See positive, and you can fix that.
Keep a journal
I recommend this to everyone multiple times because journaling is life and it helps with so much. So pick out some amazing journal prompts for self-awareness and start doing them daily for 30 days to see how you feel after.
Write down your goals, plans, and priorities.
This is definite that you need to do. Because this is what will drive you to become better, happier, and indeed more successful.
Perform daily self-reflection.
Again give yourself a pep talk, not something to down yourself. You are amazing and, you're making yourself even stronger and smarter every day as you reach your goals towards a better life and self-awareness.
Practice meditation and other mindfulness habits.
Guided meditations are amazing but are not for everyone. So, it's ok if you can't get into it. But at least try for 5 minutes a day for one week.
Mindfulness is something you should practice every day. Because knowing what you should be grateful for brings you into positive self-awareness and furthers your personal growth.
Take personality and psychometric tests.
There is a list of tests you can take to raise your awareness. Try out 16 personalities, what are your values, the four tendencies, and are you a or b type of person.
I have taken these tests when I first went on my journey of self-awareness. It has helped me tremendously.
Ask trusted friends to describe you.
Make sure these are trusted friends that are not toxic. Choose a friend that you know wants the best for you and wants you to succeed in life.
Ask them what you need to improve on to be a better person.
EXTRA:
What is the downside of being self-aware?
Yes, unfortunately like everything in life, there is a downside to be self-aware. You become an overthinker and overanalyze.
What that means is you will question everything you do and if you are doing it the correct way, or even if you should be doing it at all. It is manageable sometimes, but other times it can become unbearable and overwhelming.
But every medicine has a side effect and every action has a consequence. I believe that being self-aware has helped me get to the place I am at now. I'm pretty sure if I wasn't I wouldn't be able to call myself sober, or a writer.
Summary
In conclusion, being self-aware has so many benefits. From being able to live a successful, helpful life to staying stress-free in negative situations.
Granted, there is a side effect for all that glory. But, like Uncle Ben said to Peter, "With great strength comes great responsibility". This is means the strength of being self-aware gives your the responsibility of managing your overthinking.
Are you self-aware? If so, how do you manage the overthinking?
Thank you greatly for reading my article my loves! You are f'n rock stars on your journey to self-growth. Don't forget to follow my Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for the awesome sauce of tips and tricks to help you with your personal growth.
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As always remember, you are strong, you are beautiful and you are HELLA freaking powerful!
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