A study shows that 95% of people think they are self-aware –But in reality, only about 10-15% truly are! This study also shows that focusing on developing your self-awareness directly affects your chances of success. But a strong lack of self-awareness does the exact opposite.
People who lack self-awareness have a poor understanding of how their decisions impact their life. In fact, lacking self-awareness can cut your chances of success in half. In this article, you will find 15 ways to develop self-awareness. Welcome to Alux. If you don’t feel like reading the article here’s the video version:
1
Know Your Strengths
How many times have you heard the words, “You are unique”? Probably a thousand times, right? But have you ever stopped to wonder why each human being is unique, despite there being over 7 billion of us scattered around the world?
Well, most of us are defined by our strengths, and understanding these strengths is a sure way to become more self-aware. The thought of every individual is different and that how everyone is noticed.Why are these strengths important?
They are because they will give you a sense of direction, and also determine what steps you need to take to reach your goals! And achieve whatever you want. However, the debate is not only limited to your strength, your conscious choice and effort is something that matters as well.
2
Know Your Weaknesses
While your weaknesses shouldn’t play an important role in your personal development and self-awareness journey, it is important that you identify them! Never let your weakness to come in your path.
An understanding of your weaknesses reflects your limits, and is a great way to assess your skills and development areas. It will help you out in certain ways, which will ultimately enhance your personality.
Now, remember that your weaknesses don’t define you; you just have to be mindful of them. This knowledge will help you know when you should reach out for assistance, and also when you should face things on your own.
3
Be Curious About Yourself
Isn’t it weird that most of the people l go through life believing that they know everything about themselves? People really don’t know anything about themselves. Even though there are over 7 billion people, everyone is unique in very interesting ways!
To become self-aware, they must become genuinely curious about themselves. Take the time to understand how your mind works, and reflect on what you find. Learn about your body, know what triggers you, what calms you, and what pushes you over the edge.
Sometimes, people can get too scared to find out certain things about themselves, but if total self-awareness is your goal, then you really have to go down those paths, no matter how ugly they might seem.
4
Let Your Guard Down
Now, this sounds like bad advice! But it isn’t, just give us a chance to explain!Have you ever noticed how defensive you get when you notice something completely different about yourself, especially something you don’t like? Well, that’s your instinctual urge trying to protect you!
But here’s what you should rather do; instead of judging yourself, or choosing to ignore this new-found information, let your walls down, and learn more about this part of yourself.
Understand that it is perfectly fine to discover new bits of yourself as time goes on, even if it doesn’t completely fit into previous understanding of yourself.
Only by challenging these not-so-beautiful parts of yourself will you achieve total self-awareness. Self-awareness is a good choice but don’t over do it.
5
Always Ask For Feedback
Learning about yourself can be a difficult task, but you have the option of asking others what they think about you. What kind of thoughts they had when your first met them. How they judge your appearance?
Not only does this make the whole learning process a whole lot easier, it also offers you a chance to learn entirely new things about yourself. A feedback from an employer could help you see something about yourself that you never even considered in the first place.
However, in asking for feedback, always make sure it’s from people who know you enough to have an opinion. Also, trust is a necessary factor, so make sure you are asking someone you trust for feedback.
But everyone knows the truth about feedback, it can be difficult to accept criticism, especially if it doesn’t sound too good to your ears. However, that’s where the hard work comes in; you have to be willing to see things from their own perspective to have an even wider understanding of yourself.
Come on, constructive criticism isn’t an attack on your person, rather it’s a valuable tool for self-development and growth. Considering that criticism you can make a better version of yourself.
6
Question Your Values And Opinions
Who says your core values can’t change? In fact, challenging your values and opinions is a valid way to learn more about yourself! And to bring a visible and wise improvement to your life.
Most times, your values are a close reflection of who you really are, and challenging them puts us face to face with our thought processes, opinions, behaviors, and also the biases that result from these thoughts.
But don’t get that wrong, challenging your values and opinions isn’t to prove yourself wrong, it really is just a chance to explore the possibility that your values can change, and that thought of change shouldn’t scare you.
7
Recognize Your Core Values
It is enough that you question your core values, and it is equally important that you recognize your core values, and understand why they matter to you. These values will give you a “why” when things get dark and rough, and they will push you to try, even when every bone in your body doesn’t want to.
Understanding your values also means you’d have a clearer knowledge of what you want from life, and what you need to do to get that. Unfortunately, when you have no clear idea of your values, you might fall into the trap of doing things that aren’t exactly beneficial to you.
Are you worried about how you can find your core values? You can get started by asking your trusted friends. Or you can try the more complicated, yet more effective method of self-reflection. Try to remember the moments of true happiness or moments of sadness, and seek out your values that stood firmly on the ground during these moments.
8
Know What Triggers You
Everybody has that one thing that triggers them, even Superman — despite all of his strength — cannot stand the Kryptonite. And come to think of it, how bad would things get for Superman if he didn’t find out on time that the Kryptonite could trigger him, making him defenceless?
Pretty bad, right? Well, that’s how bad things can get on your self-awareness journey if you fail to find out and acknowledge your triggers. The importance of understanding your triggers is to help you develop ways you can cope with them, and how you even react to them!
9
Become Self-disciplined
Self-discipline is one of the most important values for every person out there; it is the ability to control your emotions, urges, thoughts, and of course behaviours, despite temptations or impulse.
This trait is an important tool in becoming self-aware, as it helps you stay 100% focused on what you need to do! What is more beneficial for you. What will make you the most disciplined and inclined person.
It is also important to note that self-discipline helps you build healthy habits, develop your potential, stretch your limits, all of which are even more important in developing your self-awareness.
10
Be Open
How do you think the idea of self-awareness will approach you when you will not be active enough to deal with it.This is because your openness to learning more about yourself makes it easier to accept the not-so-beautiful parts, while also making a conscious effort to make these parts better.
Being open also makes it easier to change your values and stance on certain subjects, especially when you learn more. Do away with mindsets that cause sadness or despair, be open to learning that you can be happier, no matter what.
Adopting an open-minded mindset will also help improve your self-awareness. Also, there will be multiple new things happening in your daily life.
11
Meditate
If you had to give an award to the most effective method in this article, there’s a huge chance it would be given to this age-old practice called meditation! Meditation has tons of benefits, but one of its most important benefits is its ability to improve your self-awareness.
In fact, meditation hinges on using self-awareness to achieve a number of other benefits!
During meditation, you become super aware of your surroundings, and you become even more aware of yourself.
You can hear the rhythm of your body, you can almost see the blood flowing through every part of it, and that in that moment you will feel genuine peace within you. It will also bring you close to understanding yourself.
What makes meditation more interesting is the fact that this simple, yet effective practice can help you reflect on your life, which in turn is another great way to develop your self-awareness.
To understand yourself during the meditation process, you can ask yourself questions like: Who am I?
- Which values truly represent the core of my being?
- What am I doing right?
- Am I doing wrong?
- What are the things I can change and control about myself?
Try them; the answers to the questions will definitely give you a lot to think about!
12
Write Things Down
Most people have an idea of how much writing can be helpful and how much positivity they will feel in their life. Well, in case you don’t know, writing remains one of the most effective ways to keep track of your progress, whether you like it or not.
You can write down the daily goals you completed, perhaps with how you felt at the time, and why you completed those goals. A daily breakdown of these goals will show you how far you’ve come, and what you need to do to go even farther.
13
Take Tests
Self-awareness involves you learning about yourself, so it wouldn’t hurt to try out a few psychometric tests, right? While the answers from these tests aren’t 100% accurate – thanks to how unique and complicated human beings really are – they are enough to point you in the right direction.
For starters, the Myers-Briggs personality test or “Big Five” personality test are great ways to start learning more about your personality type, and the results will definitely improve your self-awareness journey.
14
Try New Experiences
Here’s one interesting discovery that is made along the way; choosing to immerse yourself in new experiences can improve your self-awareness! How so? This is largely due to the fact that new experiences push you out of your comfort zone, and it forces you to think and act in uncomfortable and unfamiliar situations.
Will you run away? Or will you face this head-on? Be sure to keep in mind that your answer to this question will determine how much this affects your self-awareness level. Also, new experiences don’t have to involve a difficult task or situation; it could be as simple as visiting a new city, going to a party, or meeting new people.
No matter how great or awful the experience turns out to be, they are very sure you’ll learn one or two new things about themselves!
15
Read More Fiction
interesting fact: there’s a bit of connection between reading fiction and improving self-awareness. How? A study in 2006 showed that people who read more fictional work are more likely to develop empathy and better social skills!
This means that reading novels makes it easier to put yourself in the shoes of others, and guess what this does eventually? It teaches you how to see yourself objectively. This way, you are more likely to notice your flaws, and make an effort to become better!
16
Keep Checking In With Yourself
Developing your self-awareness is a long process, and even if you are one to speed things up, you cannot become fully self-aware in a day or a week. But here’s the thing; no matter how long it gets, don’t forget to always check in with yourself.
Ask yourself how the entire process is making you feel, and what could be making you feel that way. Developing your self-awareness can be difficult, but a constant check-in will help you keep track of your progress.
