5 Reasons Why Self-Awareness is Important
There are many great ways of improving yourself. One of these ways is to look for the positive attributes you possess and appreciating that part of you.
Another important way of becoming a better person is by acknowledging your weaknesses and actively working on improving. These two methods of self-improvement define what it means to be self-aware.
Being self-aware can help you relate well with people and increase your ability to achieve your goals. These are not the only benefits of self-awareness, however. Here are some more reasons why it is important to be self-aware.
Increases your social abilities
Human beings are social beings who thrive on relationships. People who are self-aware are very successful when creating relationships. This is because they are able to realize exactly what they want in each person they meet. That certainty comes from knowing one’s own abilities and challenges. Self-awareness also promotes emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence helps us relate to the feelings of other people. Lacking this skill can leave us in conflicts with others. The best way to improve your level of emotional intelligence is by learning your own emotional patterns.
Promotes versatility and open-mindedness
Knowing yourself can be very crucial to affecting the approach that you have on issues. Self-awareness in itself is the ability to actively seek to listen to the body and mind to know your natural response to change. This consciousness can thus help you have a clear focus when dealing with issues. You are also able to accept opinions, feedback, and criticism from other people without being subjective. Ultimately, you are able to have multiple solutions to a single problem.
Promotes productivity
People who are self-aware are fast thinkers. They understand themselves and are able to focus on the challenges of the day without hindrances. Without understanding yourself, there is a big challenge where you are held back by uncertainty. This results in time wastage caused by pondering over many different courses of action even when a swift decision is needed.
Improves leadership skills
One of the most important attributes of a good leader is swift decision-making. A leader should also be impartial and confident. All these are things that we gain by becoming self-aware. Knowing yourself removes internal fear and you are able to focus on important matters.
Promotes Overall Objectivity
Being self-aware promotes objectivity. People who are self-aware are also self-confident. This means that they can easily make decisions without being clouded by poor judgment.
The Second Important Thing is to Embrace and Just Be Yourself
Fears,doubts and insecurities are all around us, outside and inside of us. Sometimes it may even seem easier to “just want to be someone else” as we wrap ourselves up in these negative feelings. The grass may appear much greener on the other side based on our perceptions and ideas. Which may or may not be slanted in the right direction, based on the past or current experiences we have had. The reality is often the exact opposite and others are more afraid than we are.
What if the person you think has everything going for them looks in the mirror and hates the way they smile, or how large they think their eyes are? What if everyone else in their family has brown eyes and they are made to feel out of place for having blue ones? If the messages they have heard from family, friends or loved ones has always been negative regarding a certain characteristic or feature, their self-esteem will have taken solid hits from that.
It’s comical how others are envied for superficial beauty, wealth or relationships that people would fight to trade places with them because many of them are looking at us and thinking the same thing. You appear as the smartest person around and they wish they had the same people or conversation skills that you do. That feeling of quiet desperation to “be someone else” results in the lack of confidence, low self-esteem and any hope that we can ever improve our situations in life.
This is a perception and not your reality. Rather than spend your life wringing your hands about who you can’t be, or what you don’t have in it, concentrate on finding out how to make things better for yourself. Ask questions and find solutions to how to be a better person and to accept yourself for who you are. You can always learn new skills, ask trusted friends or advisers for areas they think you could improve in and how.
Just because that’s the way “you have always been” doesn’t mean that’s the way you must always remain. Taking steps to self-improvement can open up new doors of experiences and opportunities for you. Then you can, in turn, inspire and motivate others.
