Is Self-awareness Important?

When I heard the word "SELF-AWARENESS" for the first time, subconsciously I put this in the Spirituality department. And personally, I am not a person who had such interest in spirituality. while after studying the topic and researching on this I have found how deeply it is connected to each one of us.

Most of the problems in everyone's life is because of the ignorance of the self-awareness

Benefits of Self-awareness

•  Improve skills by recognizing what you do well and what you need to improve 
•  Raise happiness levels by aligning your ideas with your actions
•  Become a better leader by understanding how employees perceive your behavior
•  Strengthen work and personal relationships by managing emotions
•  Increase work motivation by seeking out your true passions
•  Decrease stress by identifying emotions and lessening tasks you don’t enjoy

So What is Self-Awareness Exactly?

This definition places more emphasis on the ability to monitor our inner world, our thoughts and emotions as they arise. It is important to recognize that self-awareness is not only about what we notice about ourselves but also how we notice and monitor our inner world.

Non-Judgmental quality is an essential component of self-awareness. As we notice what's happening inside us, we acknowledge and accept them as the inevitable part of being human, rather than giving ourselves a hard time about it.

Furthermore, self-awareness goes beyond merely accumulating knowledge about ourselves. It is also about paying attention to our inner state with a beginner’s mind and an open heart. Our mind is extremely skillful at storing information about how we react to a certain event to form a blueprint of our emotional life. 

Why Does Self-Awareness Matter?

Self-awareness is the key cornerstone to emotional intelligence, according to Daniel Goleman. The ability to monitor our emotions and thoughts from moment to moment is key to understanding ourselves better, being at peace with who we are and proactively managing our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

In addition, self-aware people tend to act consciously rather than react passively, to be in good psychological health and to have a positive outlook on life. They also have a greater depth of life experience and are more likely to be more compassionate to themselves and others.

'A high self-awareness score was the strongest predictor of overall success'

  Why is it Not Easy to be More Self-Aware?

So if self-awareness is so important, why aren’t we more self-aware?

Well, the most obvious answer is that most of the time we are simply "not there" to observe ourselves. In other words, we are not there to pay attention to what's going on inside or around us.

Psychologists Daniel T. Gilbert found that almost half of the time we operate on “automatic pilot” or unconscious of what we are doing or how we feel, as our mind wanders to somewhere else other than here and now.

In addition to the constant mind-wandering, the various cognitive bias also affects our ability to have a more accurate understanding of ourselves.

  Ways to Cultivate Self-Awareness

1. Create some space for yourself
Leave yourself some time and space every day – perhaps first thing in the morning or half an hour before sleep when you stay away from the digital distractions and spend some time with yourself, reading, writing, meditating and connecting with yourself.

2. Practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is the key to self-awareness   

Mindfulness is “paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, non- judgmentally”. Through mindfulness practice, you will be more present with yourself so that you can “be there” to observe what’s going on inside and around you. It is not about sitting cross-legged or suppressing your thoughts. It is about paying attention to your inner state as they arise. You can practice mindfulness at any time you want, through mindful listening, mindful eating or walking.

3. Keep a journal 

Writing not only helps us process our thoughts but also makes us feel connected and at peace with ourselves. Writing can also create more head space as you let your thoughts flow out onto paper. Research shows that writing down things we are grateful for or even things we are struggling with helps increase happiness and satisfaction. You can also use the journal to record your inner state. Try this at home –choose a half day on a weekend, pay close attention to your inner world – what you are feeling, what you are saying to yourself, and make a note of what you observe every hour. You may be surprised about what you write down!

4. Gain different perspectives  

Ask for feedback. Sometimes we can be too afraid to ask what others think of us – yes sometimes the feedback may be biased or even dishonest but you will be able to differentiate them from real, genuine and balanced feedback as you learn more about yourself and others. Research has shown conducting 360-degree feedback in the workplace is a useful tool to improve managers' self-awareness. We all have blind spots, so it is helpful to gain a different perspective to see a fuller picture of ourselves.

SELF AWARENESS IS THE KEY TO SELF MASTERY

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