Slowly, but surely, the ashes return to the ground… Once we have dusted ourselves off and our bruises disappear slowly… Before projecting ourselves into the future, it would be wise to take a moment to see ourselves clearly and objectively through introspection, reflection and feedback. Isn’t this a perfect moment for awareness?
Definition
What is self-awareness…?
It is the ability to look into oneself and accurately recognize one’s own emotions, thoughts and values.
It’s the ability to recognize their influence on behaviour.
It is the ability to accurately assess one’s personality, individuality, character, feelings, motivations, desires, strengths, and limitations.
What this means…
Self-awareness is your ability to accurately perceive our own inner states and emotions, to remain aware of them when they occur, and to recognize their impact on your life.
In short: it is the ability to know ourselves, to know what we feel and why.
Tasha Eurich’s (2017) research found that “if 95% of people think they are self-aware, the actual figure is closer to 10-15%”. She said, “Not only are our assessments often wrong, but we are usually terrible judges of our own performance and ability.”
She describes two specific types of self awareness :
- Internal self-awareness – The way in which we know ourselves : an inner understanding of our passions and aspirations, our strengths and weaknesses, our values, etc.
- External self-awareness – Understanding how others perceive us within these same aspects and understanding from an outside view.
Why this is important…
Travis Bradberry, author of the book Emotional Intelligence 2.0, describes self-awareness as one of the main components of emotional intelligence. Self-awareness is “empowering” because it empowers you with knowledge and allows you to make better choices – to change or grow.
Daniel Goleman, the author of the book Emotional Intelligence, identified it as the first of the five skills that make up emotional intelligence. Without awareness and understanding of ourselves, and without a sense of self rooted in our own values, it is difficult, if not impossible, to be conscious of and to react to the emotions of others.
Self-awareness helps…
- Identify gaps in our professional skills, which helps for their development
- Find the situations in which we will be most effective
- Make decisions
- Facilitate stress management and motivation of self and others
Self-awareness is important: by having a better understanding of ourselves, we are able to identify and assert ourselves as unique and distinct individuals. We are then able to make changes, leverage our strengths, and identify areas where we would like to improve.
Are you as self-aware as you think you are (or hope to be) ?
To develop self-awareness, you must know how to ask the important questions ... With truth comes power. So ask yourself:
- Have I clearly defined the values that express what is most important to me ?
- Do I know what I want out of life ?
- Can I describe my ideal work environment ?
- What is most gratifying to me ?
- In which types of situations do I feel most satisfied ?
- Do my values determine my approach to the world ?
- Which activities give me the most joy ?
- Can I usually predict how I behave in a given situation ?
- Are my personal and professional objectives clear ?
- When I fail at something, can I generally understand where I have failed ?
- In a given situations, am I capable of evaluating myself and my performances in an objective manner ?
- Do I know the impact of my actions on the people around me ?
- When I interact with people, do I examine the way they respond to me ?
This skill (because it is a skill) is probably the most difficult to master and certainly the most laborious to develop. Being intangible, and a bit mysterious, people tend to want to go over it to arrive at more practical skills. They see no need for it, and even think it’s a real waste of time.
But 20 years as a trainer have taught me that anyone who does not invest in getting to know themselves, discovering themselves, making a thorough introspection, identifying their strengths and weaknesses breaking paradigms, and adopting the behaviors necessary for long-term fulfillment, does not succeed! By resisting this stage, we are only building a house on weak foundations… And at the first storm… Everything flies away! As soon as there is an obstacle to achieving our objectives, as soon as something unexpected happens.... Everything falls apart.
Before projecting ourselves into the future, it would be wise to take a moment to see ourselves clearly and objectively through introspection, reflection and feedback.
It is probably at this stage that we can distinguish people who take the means to thrive and increase their chances of success from those who cross their fingers and hope to succeed.
One thing is certain: YOU are the determining factor of your success! Understanding yourself is therefore crucial.