At a glance, the term “self-awareness” appears to be a pretty simple and straightforward concept. It refers to being aware of yourself. However, what exactly does that mean? And why do so many motivational speakers and self-help gurus preach the importance of a concept that’s seemingly obvious?
While self-awareness may seem simple and self-explanatory, it’s something that’s lacking in many of us.
Yet, it’s one of the critical things needed to achieve self-acceptance and self-improvement.
What Exactly is Self-Awareness?
To put it in a nutshell, self-awareness is about having conscious knowledge of your own feelings and character. Seems pretty simple, right? However, the truth is that most of us live on auto-pilot modes, not thinking much about what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.
And that isn’t a necessarily a negative thing. Your life is much easier and simpler when you don’t have to think about or question little things, such as driving to work or brushing your teeth, right?
However, problems start arising when you stop noticing your – for the lack of a better word – more “significant” behavioral patterns, such as how you deal with o react to problems in life.
When it comes to emotional responses, our mind has this ability to create blueprints, which is why certain responses quickly turn into habits.
Self-awareness means consciously knowing about this conditioning so we control our emotional responses, particularly unhealthy ones, in a better way.
Self-Awareness: The Key to Self-Empowerment
Regardless of what stage you’re at in life, without self-awareness, it’s simply not possible to better any aspect of your life. And that makes perfect sense too – if you don’t have a starting point, you won’t be able to judge how far you’ve come and how far you still have to go, right?
This is perhaps the reason why many of us cling on to passive activities and mindless entertainment. Now, these distractions aren’t necessarily bad, and let’s face it, we all need a certain dose. But, it’s important not to let these distractions gain control over who you are. If we carry on distracting ourselves, we start ignoring and neglecting our feeling, fears, and deep-rooted issues. And if you stay busy with these distractions, you won’t be able to acknowledge your weaknesses, and you’ll have no reason to work on overcoming them.
You win half the battle by just becoming aware of your compulsions.
The accomplished author of best-sellers “Break Loose” and “Halftime Hustler”, Ralph Sanders is also a leadership advisor, coach, and motivational speaker. Click here to learn Ralph’s story or to check out the books that he has authored.