Self–Awareness: Mirror within to Know Thyself
Imagine operating a vehicle when you have no knowledge on how the engine or navigation works. This is like living a life without Self-Awareness - disconnected from your own inner compass. But what if you could "drive" your own life with greater clarity and accuracy. Let's explore how self-awareness can serve as your compass.
“ In the light of calm and steady self-awareness, inner energies wake up and work miracles without any effort on your part.” – Nisargadatta Maharaj
Self-awareness is a profound and essential quality anyone can acquire to completely comprehend oneself at a deeper level which influences and balances both your inner world and outer world.
Internal Self- Awareness helps you understand your own emotions and psychological states there by gain insight into your thoughts, emotions, core beliefs, values, and priorities.
External Self - Awareness focuses on how others perceive you and are affected by your behaviour thereby helps to foster communication, relationships, empathy and understanding.
Benefits of Self–Awareness
• Self-awareness encourages a sense of Acceptance. This reduces negative self-talk and the internal conflict and develops a more compassionate relationship with yourself.
• It is the first step towards Personal and Professional Growth by helping you see the areas in your life which needs attention and improvement.
• Helps identify your Strengths to work on your weaknesses.
• Enhances Decision Making Skills which brings you closer to your personal fulfilment and success.
• Improves Emotional Regulation leading to more thoughtful and deliberate responses to challenging situations.
• Enables building Stronger and Authentic Relationships fostering mutual trust, respect and understanding.
• Gain the ability to Influence the Outcomes which reduces stress and increases happiness.
How can one develop this valuable skill
Developing self-awareness is not an overnight process. It is a skill than can be developed with consistent practice which can have a lasting impact on your growth. Here are some practical steps to cultivate Self – Awareness.
• Engage in Mindfulness practices which trains your mind to be in present
• Begin Journaling, a safe space to express your true self
• Question your assumptions and beliefs and be open to challenge them
• Imagine your ideal selves
• Spend time alone for self-reflection to reconnect with yourself
• Seek feedback from others to gain insights of your blind spots
Spend some time every day or every week evaluating your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Ask yourself questions like:
• What did I discover about myself today?
• How did I handle difficulties?
• Did my actions reflect my values?
• How might I have handled this differently?
A few years ago, I found myself overwhelmed and unsure of who I truly was trying to be. All the way, I was compromising, sacrificing only to win hearts of people by being good and looking good. Yet I often encountered with misunderstandings, negativity, criticism which depressed me, no matter, how small or big. I then realized that I am getting affected in many ways and I am not being my Ideal self. That’s when I paused and began practising to be Self- Aware of my thoughts, emotions and behaviour. It helped me rediscover myself and transform my life. Thanks to it. With Self -awareness, I could be calmer and more relaxed when I focussed on analysing the perceptions and intentions of other people which actually sometimes or more had nothing to do with ‘MYSELF’. This broke my fear of being judged, all my hard feelings and helped me develop only good or no emotions towards people. I could then gain my inner and outer serenity. Now to me, feeling good is more important than being good or looking good.
You might have encountered similar situations where you have questioned yourself “WHY – did she hurt me; was he so mean to me; wouldn’t they understand me or WHY – did I do this; do I have that fear; am I so worried; didn’t I perform well”.
One can gain Self-awareness with this simple practice. Instead of asking "WHY," simply change the pattern of questioning to “WHAT" questions. The ‘WHY’ questioning shuts down your brain and only ends up in negative thoughts and emotions. But the ‘WHAT’ questioning helps you to explore the best possibilities and figure out the path to solution. For example, when you ask yourself – why didn’t I perform well today? You may answer yourself –I have stage fear; I am not good at it; I am a bad performer always; I am not confident. But when you question – what should I do to perform better? You would tell yourself – I should gain more knowledge; I need to practice more; I need to gather unique info.
When you are unable to understand and process your emotions in the right way, you disturb your relationship with yourself, with others, with work, with money and so on. You can always reach out to a therapist for external help. Counselling session is a non - judgemental space which helps to gain insights about self-discovery. As a Counselling psychologist, I am self- aware of my emotional and physical states while taking sessions and also make sure not to bring my biases in the journey with clients.
Self-awareness should be a consistent and continuous journey to personal transformation, greater emotional well-being, and more fulfilling relationships. Although the path to self-awareness need patience and dedication, the rewards are immeasurable. By beginning today, watch how self-awareness can transform your life too.
