In everyday life, it can be all too easy to live on autopilot mode, hardly pausing to self-reflect. However, everyone and everything in our lives will thank us for exercising self-awareness (ironically, especially ourselves!). Our relationships, work, confidence, and everything in between will thrive. If you’ve been looking to become more self-aware, look no further than these steps!
1- Become an active observer of yourself.
As crazy as this may sound and feel in the beginning, it should be illuminating! Observe your thoughts, words, actions, behaviors, decisions, habits, patterns, etc. Watch how you speak to yourself, about yourself, to others, about others, and about various topics. All of these things should strengthen your self-awareness by showing you your strengths and areas for improvement.
For instance, you might come to the realization that you think highly of those around you, yet you’re quick to judge yourself (or vice versa). You might realize that you have a scarcity mindset around money based on how you speak about it. You might realize you tend to make decisions from a place of fear rather than confidence. These are just a few examples of the possibilities for growth you may discover. Take notes on your observations!
2- Reflect on and journal about the things you’ve observed.
Once you’ve made these observations, it’s time to peel back the layers of how you adopted these mindsets/behaviors. Again, this can include both strengths and areas for improvement. When it comes to the areas for improvement, getting to the root causes can help you determine ways to make said improvements. Self-awareness isn’t just about identifying what you are and are not, but also why you are and are not those things. The more clearly you can understand it, the more effectively you can better yourself!
3- Consider how others would describe you.*
*This one should be used with discretion, as other people’s perceptions of you do NOT define you. Someone can believe things about you that aren’t true at all, just based on their limited knowledge of or exposure to you, or even their own insecurities.
My post Should We Care What Other People Think About Us? breaks down this topic. While there are plenty of cases where we should take other people’s opinions of us with a grain of salt, there is something to be said for the opinions of those who have our best interests at heart. If several people who care about you can also admit that you have a short temper, and they’ve tried lovingly sharing their feelings about it with you, this might be worth taking into consideration and working on. No one is perfect, and even through extensive personal development, we all have flaws. However, self-awareness can help us grow a great deal.
4- Adjust accordingly and repeat.
When you pinpoint those areas for improvement, now’s the time to work on them! Practice doing things differently, in better alignment with who you want to be. In doing so, repeat the previous steps to see how much progress you’re making. If you’re struggling to improve in a certain area, reevaluate what other approaches you can try. Self-improvement tends to require some experimentation, especially if you’re working on correcting a long-standing habit or trait. Be patient with yourself!
The bottom line…
Self-awareness doesn’t mean holding yourself to an impossible standard. It means being willing and eager to better ourselves. The more you know yourself, the more you can help yourself grow!
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