The Art of Knowing Yourself
(3 Benefits of SelfAwareness)
According to research by IO (Industrial organizational) Psychologist- Tasha Eurich, only 10-15% of people are truly self-aware, while 95% believe they are, which means that about 80% of people are lying to themselves.
Self-awareness is one of the most intricate aspects of personal development and growth. It is usually credited as the catalyst of personal development and growth.
Duval and Wicklund said that when we focus our attention on ourselves, we evaluate and compare our current behaviour to our internal standards and values. We become self-conscious and objective evaluators of ourselves.
Self-awareness is the ability to objectively take inventory of one's thoughts, emotions, motivation, passion, and behavioral patterns. The ability to recognize and identify one's weaknesses and strengths and how they influence your actions.
It was Myles Munroe who said, The greatest discovery in life is self-discovery. Until you find yourself, you will always be someone else. Become yourself!
In this age of the World Wide Web and social media, people are easily influenced, and they can become prey to peer pressure. The world is a global village and a person from a remote village in Asia or Africa can use the life of a person in Europe to judge their self-worth and growth. This will be unfair to you, so the ability to cultivate self-awareness is highly recommended and important.
In the words of Carl Jung, until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.
Self-awareness can help in reinventing and improving yourself. Often, it is easy to project the idea of what or who you think you are supposed to be on yourself, but self-awareness can bring you to the knowledge of who you truly are and help you identify and understand your capabilities.
The Benefits of Self-Awareness
(2) Enhanced Resolutions- Self-awareness will foster better decision-making. By learning about yourself you can make informed decisions that are true to who you are and what you stand for.
(3) Efficiency- By identifying and learning about what makes you tick, and understanding your weaknesses, you can hone and earnest your strengths to improve the quality of your life, and you can address and work on your weaknesses.
(3) Stress Management- when you are aware of who you are, you can learn about your triggers, and understanding the root of your triggers can afford you the opportunity to be proactive in addressing them and ways to design coping strategies.
You must recognize self-awareness as an important and powerful tool for personal development and growth. As Aristotle said, the ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.
