In order to know in which way we can improve self-awareness, we must first understand what exactly the term “self-awareness” means. Self-awareness is when an individual is able to see himself as objectively as possible, when he knows the way he reacts and feels. People that are self-aware are able to, for example, realize where they made mistakes, all while they don’t feel the need to find excuses. Instead, they are ready to face themselves and their mistakes.
Self-aware people, for the most part, know in what way they are going to react to certain things. This puts them two steps ahead of people that are not self-aware. Knowing and gaining the art of self-awareness influences you to make better decisions as well- when we learn to distinguish our mistakes, we will also learn to fix them and make the right choices the next time we encounter similar situations. This will improve our creativeness and productiveness, especially in our work field.
There are many ways in which one can improve self-awareness. What is also good about this skill is that you can work on it all the time, anywhere- even in your home. Without further ado, here are some useful tips and tricks for improving your self-awareness and strengthening your inner-self.
Meditation
Meditation is a common practice that has proven to be helpful not just for self-awareness, but also for relaxing. It is something every person can and should do. By meditating you can learn how to calm down, and focus, which later on results in clearer thinking and decision-making. If you’re not familiar with meditation, don’t worry. Because meditation became quite popular, there are many apps that offer some useful tips on meditation. You can even find many videos of guided meditation. A lot of them are guided meditations specifically for self-awareness, while you can also find guided meditations for love and self-love, success, money, creativity, etc.
If you, yet, wish to do it all by yourself, there are some questions you should ask yourself. What are you trying to achieve? What are you trying to change? What is your goal? What are you doing right? Which of your actions are not working in your favor? For a successful meditation, remember to take deep breaths, take it slow and remove any possible distractions, like TV or phones.
Write down everything in your diary
Many people say no to this step because they feel embarrassed to write down their feelings. But keeping a diary for self-awareness is not the kind of diary that might come to mind. Firstly, writing down your feelings at certain points of time will help you realize which things upset you the most, and why. When you get upset or frustrated over something, write down what happened and how you reacted to that circumstance. You can write whatever comes to your mind- what you felt, what you thought at that moment or how you behaved for the rest of the day. Do this for the happier situations, as well. If anything made you feel stronger emotions, write it down. Throughout time, by reading your diary, you will be able to think about these events more clearly, see the bigger picture, and react more objectively the next time similar events happen. Also, having a material thing with all your struggles, goals and conflicts in it is written proof of your overall improvement over time.
Take time and space for thinking and self-observing
Find some space in your room where you feel you’re most comfortable and most at peace. If you isolate yourself in this manner, you won’t get distracted, or anxious if someone is going to interrupt you. Take an hour or two to sit and think about how your day went, what happened throughout your day, how you interacted with other people, etc. Observe yourself. Try remembering the last situation that influenced you in some way- whether it was a good or a bad way. Pay attention and take notes on moment where your inner state arises. This will help you figure out if the way you behaved during a certain situation was right, or helpful to you or other participants in this situation.
Get to know things that bother you and others
You must observe not just yourself, but other people that surround you, too. Knowing which specific things annoy you about other people will help you learn more about yourself, about how you should or shouldn’t react. It will also help you realize that some things are just not worth losing your nerves over- this will result in less impulsive reactions in the future.
Think about the situations in which somebody was mad at you or upset with your behavior. Knowing in which situations you made the right choice will help you recognize whether pressure or other people emotions influence your own behavior and thinking.
