What is Self-Awareness and Why It Matters

Image Credit | Andre Mouton | Pexels

Self-awareness is a key component of being able to be successful in business and life. Thales of Miletus was a Greek philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer. He was regarded by Aristotle as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition. He is also recognized as the first philosopher to have engaged in scientific philosophy, leading many to refer to him as the father of science. 

Thales is largely responsible for the ancient Greek aphorism "know thyself". Thales had been asked what is the most difficult thing in life?, to which he replied "The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself.". Following up he was asked, what is the easiest thing in life. Thales responded, "The easiest? To give advice."

In those responses, Thales perfectly described human nature as it relates to criticism. We find it easy to find fault in others and to tell them how they should go about doing things. When forced to look inward we often struggle to see the truth about ourselves and our own actions. 

The ability to look inward at yourself and honestly assess your own actions and abilities allows you to form clear plans and goals in life. Knowing your own strengths and weaknesses will help you know what to work towards and what your strengths are likely to allow you to excel at while knowing your weaknesses will help you to understand what tasks to avoid and when it's appropriate to ask for help. 

Giving advice is a good thing as well when it is welcome and warranted. Unsolicited advice will often fall on deaf ears, so ensure that you have permission to provide that feedback. Being a mentor to someone new or younger can be a great way to pass along the knowledge and lessons you've learned. I've written about being a mentor before. Check that article out here

Today I'm going to focus on knowing yourself. We'll walk through the benefits of self-awareness and how you can improve your own self-awareness. 

What are the Benefits of Being Self-Aware?

Improved Confidence

Knowing who you are and what you are about can lead to significantly increased confidence. When you know what you are good at, what you are poor at, and what matters to you it allows you to pursue things in life that will bring you happiness and fulfillment. Working towards things that are both important to you and that you are good at will result in increased performance and superior confidence. 

Better Decision Making

If you've ever seen the show American Idol, you'll know that contestants routinely arrive to prove they deserve a spot in the Hollywood portion of the show. Many of these contestants arrive with the belief that they will wow the judges and the audience at home. Once they begin to sing, however, it becomes clear that they lack the ability to sing in tune. They even react with complete disbelief when the judges reject them and send them home. They did not have self-awareness. Had these contests been aware of their own strengths and talents they would have known that singing was not a strength and would have avoided going to the audition. In your life, being self-aware will help you make better decisions. You can avoid things that you are not good at and pursue the things that you are. 

Stay in Control

Being self-aware can also lead to better self-control. It is easy to allow your emotions to overrun you and creep into your decision-making process. However, knowing yourself can help you to stay grounded and keep your emotions in check. When you have self-awareness you can recognize your emotions for what they are, but not allow them to override your better sense and lead to actions that you might regret later. 

Have Healthier Relationships

Being self-aware can lead to better and healthier relationships, both in business and life. Knowing who you are, what's important to you as well as being aware of your own weaknesses, can help you to understand how others view you. That can lead to you taking more care in how you interact with and treat other peoples. It will also help you identify and build relationships with those that complement your own strengths and weaknesses and provide healthy interactions. 

How Can You Improve Your Self Awareness?

Seek Honest Feedback

One of the best ways to become more self-aware is to seek outside advice. Our own thoughts are judgments are often filled with biases that fall in our favor. As we assess our own behavior we are likely to unconsciously rate ourselves as better and more successful than we may actually be. Finding an honest and objective mentor can really help to improve your own understanding of who you are. 

Writing

One of the reasons that I write is to better understand my own thoughts. The process of writing forces me to think through what I believe and how to communicate that to other people. Within the process of researching and writing articles, I am forced to inspect my own beliefs and how those compare with the thoughts and beliefs of others. I learn about myself every time I write an article. You can also write articles or more easily write a journal. Simply open the notes app on your phone or PC and write down your thoughts at the beginning or end of every day. This will help you more clearly understand your inner thoughts and feelings. 

Exercise and Reflect

I take time to exercise every day. Part of this is for physical fitness, part of this is for enjoyment, and part of this is to take time for myself where I can think. When I'm aware of everyone else and exercising I can reflect on what is going on in my life, what actions I've taken, how things are working, and what I might do differently. You do not have to exercise to reflect, but the key is to take time where you can be alone and look at your life and assess it without the pressure of others looking at your or demanding your attention. I find exercise provides that opportunity while also helping to improve other aspects of your physical and mental health. 

Seek Understanding and Avoid Victimhood

Many times in life things happen that we are not happy about. It is easy to slip into a feeling of helplessness and blame others for why we do not have or are not where we want to be in life. It is better to seek to understand what happened without placing blame. When you are the victim you are out of control of your own life. When you are researching what happened and not acting as the victim you can study your own life and understand it. When you understand yourself you can make better decisions and maintain your confidence and enthusiasm for the things you are trying to achieve. When things happen in your life seek to understand what happened over why it happened to you.

Final Thoughts

As I've become older I've become more self-aware. When I was young I had such confidence that I was often blind to my own weaknesses and opportunities. This lead to making poor decisions that I had to pay for. My mistakes taught me so much about the importance of understanding who you are and being self-aware. I encourage you to look inward and seek a deeper understanding of what drives you, what are good at, what you are poor at, and what others think of you. Use this knowledge to make better decisions, boost your self-confidence and improve the overall outcomes of the things you do in business and life. 

 






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