"Who looks extrinsic, dreams; who looks inside, awakes."
– Carl Jung
What Is Self-Awareness?
To put it in layman’s language, Self-awareness is the power to see yourself clearly and objectively by introspection and questioning yourself. If you can answer yourself clearly, you are self-aware, but if you find yourself thinking for your answers, you need clarification in your life. Thus, talking to yourself is the best way to become self-aware.
Put simply, highly self-aware people can interpret their actions, feelings, and thoughts objectively.
Now we know what self-awareness is, let’s get into the topic and understand what the benefits of self-awareness are.
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Benefits Of Self-Awareness
There are various benefits of self-awareness, which may change highly from person to person. But we have listed some of the common benefits of self-awareness below.
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- We can control our behaviour even in hot situations and become positive towards how we approach our life.
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- It helps us to evolve into better decision-makers. Awareness of the pros and cons of any given problem makes us confident, resulting in crystal-clear communication with proper interpretation.
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- It allows us to see things from diverse perspectives, helping us broaden our minds.
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- It frees us from our hypotheses and prejudices and helps nurture our relationships.
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- And lastly, it helps us to decrease stress and live a content and happy life.
These are the various benefits of Self-awareness now. You may wonder how I become a self-aware person.
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How To Become A More Self-Aware Person
Envision yourself
Picture the best version of yourself. As you lean into your power to become the finer version of yourself, you can use this visualized self to keep moving on the right path and not be diverted by setbacks and other hardships.
Ask the “what” questions.
At the core of self-awareness is the power to self-reflect. Most people are going about introspection in the wrong way. The trouble is we ask ourselves inappropriate questions. In our attempt to solve our internal conflict, we ask, “Why?” And there’s no way to answer the why since we don’t have the power to our unconscious. Instead, we create answers that may not be accurate. Thus, to know the why, you must first question What
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Strengthen your brain
The primitive brain was the foremost part of the brain to evolve in humans. It functioned as a radar signalling the need to fly or fight in any situation. That part of the brain is trained at predicting danger and reacting before we can even name a negative sentiment. Our heartbeat races, our stomach tightens, and our neck muscles sense pain.
Your body’s reaction is a tripwire signalling the pre-frontal cortex to note or name a negative feeling. If you bring awareness to your physical being, you can, at the instance, recognize the feeling as it is happening. Becoming skilful at this rewires your brain. And this can be achieved when you are calm. Thus, train your brain to be calm at any given point in your life.
