Self-Awareness
Have you ever felt frustration, jealousy, excitement, or even a sense of numbness? If you’re human, then the answer is, yes. The question of when you feel any of those emotions, varies on you. Your personal perception of any situation, event, or occurrence is how you self consciously choose to respond. Throughout our lives, we have endured numerous of emotions. I know I have, more than I would like to, but this isn’t about my feelings and what I’ve felt throughout my life. This is about learning how we can become self intuitive to what we are feeling, why we have those feelings, and how we can control our behaviors and actions during those emotions. To remain in control of our actions, we need to be aware of ourselves. Specifically, a self-aware individual can choose to workout during the night instead of the morning because they are aware of when they perform at their optimal level. Self-awareness can be a guide of who we are and what we stand by: values, standards, characteristics, and ethics. Self-awareness is how we portray and see ourselves through personal needs, desires, and character.
Strategy:
When you have time, I advice you to have a journal near you and write down your thoughts, feelings, goals, plans, and anything that may come to mind no matter how random it may seem. It can be anything from what you have to do, where you plan on going, who you want to meet and etc. When you’re done, I want you to ask yourself for each item you’ve written, the 3 why’s. The 3 why’s allow you to learn more about yourself by building your awareness through your reason and your thoughts. Please see one of my thoughts to get a clearer understanding:
My Family
Why? My family is everything to me, I wouldn’t be where or who I am without any of them.
Why? They’ve created a powerful foundation of reliable support and unconditional love throughout my life.
Why? Their encouragement and belief has given me the confidence I need to pursue my goals. My victories and my accomplishments aren’t just mine, they’re my families too.
Recognize your thoughts and feelings, try to ask yourself many questions and learn more about why you feel the way you do. Try asking yourself a lot of “why” questions after answering. The purpose of this exercise is to help find your inner ‘why’. Push yourself into thinking and digging deeper as to why you had certain thoughts. You can feel vulnerable and even defensive, as there may be some things you attempt to disregard. You learn more about the cause of your feelings, you recognize the effects it has on your behavior and understand why you respond in a certain manner. You remain in control of YOU, you build inner resilience through facing your true thoughts no matter how difficult it may be. Learning to be self-aware takes time and isn’t always easy. Remember to be flexible, patient, and understanding with yourself. Accept your thought process as it’s leading you to discover the real you.