Self-awareness seems to be the new buzzword in management, and with good reason. Indeed, research shows that we are more confident and creative when we have a clear view of ourselves. In business settings, when one is self-aware, they make better decisions, builds stronger relationships, and communicates more effectively. However, lies, cheating, and theft are less likely to happen to us since we get more raises and promotions. Self-awareness shapes better leaders with happier and more productive employees to run more profitable businesses. Although most people have a basic understanding of what it is, we will go over it in greater detail in this article to discuss more on the types of self-awareness, why it matters, how to build self-awareness, how to identify it, and its benefits.
Self Awareness
It is the ability to see and understand the things that make you who you are as a person. These include your personality, actions, values, beliefs, emotions, and thoughts. In essence, it is a psychological condition in which the self is the center of attention.
Additionally, psychologists Shelley Duval and Robert Wicklund suggested the following definition:
“Self-awareness is the ability to focus on yourself and how your actions, thoughts, or emotions do or don’t align with your internal standards.” “If you’re highly self-aware, you can objectively evaluate yourself, manage your emotions, align your behavior with your values, and understand correctly how others perceive you.”
This simply means that people who are very self-aware can objectively assess their actions, feelings, and ideas.
Types of Self Awareness
Self-awareness is present in both cases, but it happens for different reasons and at different times. See the difference between the two types of self-awareness below:
Two types of self-awareness are:
- Private self-awareness
- Public self-awareness
Private Self-Awareness
This is when someone knows something about themselves that others might not know, like being anxious about reading out loud. In addition, this is one of the types of self-awareness that happens when you realize something on your own, without any outside influence or event. For example, if a person watches a movie and feels attracted to a character, this is a form of private self-awareness because the reaction is happening in the person’s mind without them being aware of it. Even if it is something outside of the person that makes them realize something about themselves, no one else is involved.
Public Self-Awareness
This is when people are aware of how other people see them. That doesn’t start to happen until a child is 5 years old. Before then, most kids don’t know that not everyone thinks and feels the same way they do. Also, Public self-awareness is different from private self-awareness because it focuses on a person’s ability to know how others see them. This is one of the types of self-awareness that helps you stand out in public or in any community where you find yourself. It can be good if it makes you likable and helps you get compliments, but it can also make you nervous when you have to speak in public or make you feel embarrassed if you don’t master the skills. When people are publicly self-aware, they are more likely to follow social norms and act in ways that don’t draw negative attention.
For example, most students know to raise their hands when they need to get the teacher’s attention. They do this because they know the teacher is in charge and they should follow this rule to keep order and not draw unwanted attention to themselves.
Why Does Self-Awareness Matter
Self-awareness is about understanding your feelings and, more importantly, why you feel the way you do. When we are self-aware, we fully understand the problems in our lives and how we fit into them. It’s also how we start to question the things we’ve always believed. Furthermore, we need to understand why self-awareness matters.
According to Goleman, it is the cornerstone of emotional intelligence. To better understand ourselves, be at peace with who we are, and take charge of our thoughts, feelings, and actions, we need to be able to keep track of our thoughts and feelings at the moment.
In addition, self-aware people also tend to act on purpose instead of just reacting passively, to be in good mental health, and to have a positive view of life. They also have more life experience, which makes them more likely to be kind to themselves and others.
To sum up, many studies have shown that self-aware matters most in the traits of successful business leaders. Green Peak Partners and Cornell University looked at 72 executives at public and private companies with sales between $50 million and $5 billion. They found that “a high self-awareness score was the strongest predictor of overall success.”
How Do We Build Self Awareness
Anyone can learn how to build self-awareness. It only takes a little willingness and practice. Here are some tips on how to build your self-awareness.
#1. Keep an Open Mind
When you can control your own emotions, you can be more sensitive to how others feel. To be self-aware, you have to be interested in new people and what they can teach you. This shows that you can work well with others and don’t always have to be the best. The more open you are to other people, the more creative you will become, even as an entrepreneur.
#2. Be Aware of Your Strengths and Weaknesses
People who are self-aware know what their strengths and weaknesses are and can work from there. To be aware of this, you need to know when you need help and when you can handle a situation on your own.
#3. Stay on Track
Making connections is an important part of building self-awareness, but you can’t do that if you’re too busy doing something else. To be more productive, train yourself to stay focused for long periods of time without getting distracted.
#4. Create Boundaries
Strong rules need to be set when building self-awareness. Also, be kind to other people, but know when to say “no.” Be serious about your work and your passions, and keep your boundaries firm to maintain the integrity of your goals and the work you put into them.
#5. Understand Your Emotional Triggers
People who are self-aware can recognize their feelings as they happen. Don’t hold back your feelings or deny what’s causing them. Instead, bend and flex with them and fully work through them before talking to other people.
#6. Embrace Your Intuition
People who are successful learn to trust their guts when making decisions and to take the risks that come with them. Your instincts are driven by the need to succeed and the survival of the fittest. Learn to trust your instincts, because they will tell you what to do next.
#7. Self-Discipline Is Important
To build self-awareness, one needs to be disciplined in everything they do. This quality gives them the long-term concentration required.
#8. Consider How Your Actions Affect Other People
We often do things without giving them much thought and only think about what we want. Self-awareness means recognizing your feelings, but you also need to know how you deal with them and how your actions affect the people around you. Being more kind to other people will help you get through hard times.
#9. Apologize When You Need To
Mistakes happen, but being self-aware will help you know when you need to apologize for them. You might have yelled at your staff or been hard to get in touch with lately. No matter what you did wrong, the best way to move on is to say you’re sorry (and really mean it) and then change how you act.
#10. Ask For Feedback.
Self-awareness means knowing yourself without help from others. For instance, in a business setting, it takes courage for an employer to ask employees for honest feedback. This takes into account the natural biases we all have toward ourselves and helps you see things more clearly.
How Do You Identify Self-awareness
Identifying self-awareness helps you learn more about who you are and what you can do. There are a lot of great ways to identify self-awareness.
#1. Evaluate How You Talk to Yourself
Identifying self-awareness starts with listening to yourself. What are you thinking about? Is it a bunch of bad ideas that make you feel pretty bad? Or do you always see the good in things?
In practice: Take a few minutes every day to sit quietly and listen to the tone of your inner voice. One way to hear your inner voice is to stand in front of a mirror and listen to what you say to yourself about how you look. It might help to write down your thoughts so you can see how positive or negative they are.
#2. Make Use of Your Senses.
Your senses, especially sight and sound, can tell you a lot about how you feel, how other people feel, and how things are going in general. But we often look at these senses through the lens of what we say to ourselves. For example, a frown doesn’t always mean that someone is angry, and a groan doesn’t always mean that the person you’re talking to is bored, despite what your inner voice might be telling you.
In practice: When you think someone is judging you or making you feel bad about yourself, take a step back and write down why you think this. Ask yourself, “Could I have interpreted what was said or done differently?” You might find that your own negative thoughts clouded your understanding.
#3. Pay Attention to How You Feel.
This can be hard if you don’t like to think too much about how you feel. Feelings are spontaneous emotional responses to the things you experience. If you choose to listen to them, they can tell you a lot about what’s going on around you, just like your senses.
You can look for some physical signs that might help you “read” your feelings. Among them are:
- A warm feeling on your face may mean you’re feeling shy.
- If you feel “butterflies” in your stomach, it can mean you’re nervous.
- If you clench your teeth, this can mean you’re mad.
In practice: Pay attention to your body for clues about how you’re feeling. By paying attention to how you feel, you can learn more about what you like, what makes you uncomfortable, and what makes you mad.
What Are the Benefits of Self-Awareness
Self-awareness is a skill that must be developed. For many, this is an unnoticed or uncomfortable practice. It takes humility and strength to let yourself open up, go deep inside, and sit with what you see, feel, and observe. With self-awareness, you can control your inner state, which has an impact on your behavior and actions. It is a practice that can test your beliefs, behaviors, and sense of self. When done consistently, you improve your ability to control your emotions and responses. From there, you may see where your ideas and emotions are taking you and, as a result, make the appropriate changes.
Below are the benefits of self-awareness.
- Having a better handle on and control of your emotions
- Better communication
- Better decision-making skills.
- improved relationships.
- High levels of happiness
- More confidence
- Better job satisfaction
- Better leadership skills
- Enhanced perspective in general
- More likely to make good decisions
“What Is Self-Awareness and Examples?
Self-awareness is the capacity to concentrate on yourself and determine whether or not one’s behaviors, ideas, or emotions fit with one’s internal standards.
examples of self-awareness are:
- Adopt a growth attitude to heart. Being accustomed to something is natural.
- Set limitations.
- Recognize negative behaviors.
- Recognize your blind spots.
- Improve your capacity to anticipate events so you can develop a strategy.
- Pay close attention.
- Ask the appropriate questions.
- Contribute to others’ self-awareness
What Are the 5 Elements of Self-Awareness?
- Self-Concept. Your perception of yourself is your self-concept.
- Thoughts. Our thoughts are connected to our emotions, thus in order to better comprehend our thoughts and mental processes.
- we must first try to become more aware of our thoughts.
- Emotions.
- feelings,
- physical body.
What Are 7 Factors That Influence Your Self-Awareness?
- Among the many elements thought to affect how we feel about ourselves are our genetics.
- Personality.
- Real-world training.
- Thoughts.
- Environment and society.
- What people think and feel.
What Are 4 Ways to Improve Self-Awareness?
- Maintain an open mind.
- Be aware of your advantages and disadvantages.
- Maintain your attention;
- establish boundaries;
What Are the Tools Used for Self-Awareness?
- Meditation about mindfulness.
- Techniques for grounding and bonding with the Earth.
- Tai Chi, Qigong, and Yoga are among examples.
Strength assessments from the University of Pennsylvania, such as the Values in Action Strength Test. - Possessing a Personal Vision.
- Keeping an eye on others.
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