6 signs of low self-awareness
Self-awareness is being in tune with your emotions, thought patterns, and even your impulsive decisions. When we can understand why we do what we do without judgment, we can appreciate the SELF.
Most people feel that they are self-aware, but in reality, this is not the truth. We may know our strengths and weaknesses, but self-awareness goes deeper than that.
There are two elements to being more self-aware: Internal self-awareness and External self-awareness.
- Internal awareness is how you can see your values, morals and how well you align these standards with your environment and reactions.
- External self-awareness – is to have the ability to see how others view you. Most empathic people are intuitive about how others perceive you or view you.
5 ways to begin self-awareness.
- Dont just ask why, ask What
In your reflections at the end of the day, just ask yourself not only why you act the way you do, but what thoughts and beliefs you carry that make you choose your why. The ‘what’ will allow you to understand your value system, your ethos and will allow you to investigate and understand your own beliefs at a deeper level.
- Ask for feedback
Tony Robbins says, “ Feedback is the breakfast for champions”. The more feedback you take from others, the more you will become aware of what others see in you. But do remember, who you take feedback from is imperative to understand and build self awareness. Therefore, ask a diverse set of individuals ranging from your colleagues to your clients to your friends to your bosses and your partner what areas of growth they see in you and reflect on it to become more self aware of what you manifest.
- Spend more time with yourself
The more time you spend in complete silence without any devices or distractions, the more time you will have to discover yourself. Self discovery is a process that leads to a more heightened sense of self awareness. Because if you do not even know who you are, how can you begin to know who you can be?
- Be an active listener
Listening is an art. To listen actively, you have to be aware of the present and be aware of who you are there in the conversation for. When you are in a conversation purely for the other, then you have little time for yourself and are more engaged in listening to what is being said and for the unsaid. But when your mind is already computing responses or judgements during the conversation, then you are not actively listening.
Relevant Blog: Mindset – a space for continuous growth
- Resist the EGO or the SELF
The more the Ego self remains, the less likely you are to be able to develop on your self awareness. How do you know if the EGO self speaks? Everytime someone gives you feedback, if you see yourself defending or reacting with the need to put the person in his or her own place, that is the act of the EGO. To be able to resist the EGO or the SELF in the process of building self awareness, is to allow for a level of reflection where you are willing to understand not only that you are imperfect but removing any attachment towards the projection of a perfect image. That is where you will begin to grow.
Good luck on your journey to self awareness. Self Awareness is one element of Emotional Intelligence that when developed could really bring a lot of meaning to life. And gives us that motivation to keep growing! One way to understand self-awareness is to maintain a Thought journal – where your journal, the kind of thoughts you have and the actions you take as a result of it This journal will help you understand what prompted you to take the major decisions in your life and what is the pattern of actions and reactions you see.
Analyzing your thoughts and actions can be overwhelming, you may begin to question yourself. Remember to be kind and without judgment because at the end of the day self-love is a big part of self-awareness.
