Self-Awareness: A Journey Within.


'Who am I really?' 
Simply asking this question and getting you to reflect on it, is an example of self-awareness. 
‘How often do you find yourself consciously thinking about your actions or thoughts?’
If you answered, ‘not very much’, then this article is perfect for you.
If you answered, ‘most of the time’, still this article is perfect for you, because self-awareness is like a muscle which improves with practice.

Self-awareness is the ability to see yourself clearly and objectively through reflection and introspection. It is seeing yourself from a third person perspective, without any barriers and understanding yourself better. 

Why is Self-Awareness important to practice?

‘Everything that irritates us about others, can lead us to an understanding about ourselves.’ 
- Carl Jung. 
  1. Self-awareness is the first step towards starting your journey of self-growth.
  2. Self-awareness instills empathy in us. It allows us to see things from the perspective of others, practice self-regulation, develop creativity, and experience pride in ourselves and our work as well as general self-esteem.
  3. It can also help us in the process of decision-making.
  4. High self-awareness is also a predictor of success in life, perhaps because a self-aware person analyses every opportunity and selects the best fit for his future goals. Currently, most of us are running on ‘autopilot’ where we are hardly aware of why we succeed or fail, or why we behave as we do. Our minds are so busy with daily chatter that we usually only self-reflect when something goes awfully wrong.
  5. Lastly, it can improve our job performance as we will be critical of our work and keep striving towards betterment. Moreover, it would also help in relationships as we can get past our block and work towards a healthy bond. 
The benefits listed are reason enough to work on improving self-awareness, but this list is by no means exhaustive. Self-awareness has the potential to improve every moment you live, as it is a muscle which can be strengthened by practice, and can be used anywhere, anytime to ground yourself, realistically evaluate yourself and make good choices.

Here is an example for you:

Kiara is on the verge of breaking up when she considers going for therapy. After a few sessions of self-work and reflection, she realized that she might be contributing to the problem. She doesn’t show Agastya appreciation very often. She also realized that Agastya repeatedly spoke about his discomfort with expressing emotions through words but made up for it by doing small chores around the house and little physical touches that show his care.  
Kiara considers the newfound information and discusses it with Agastya, wherein they both agree towards making certain changes to make the other person feel appreciated and work towards improving their relationship.

How do we cultivate self-awareness?

‘What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness about himself.’ 
- Abraham Maslow

1. The Johari Window

In this exercise you will need people you trust, a pen and a paper. 


The known and hidden selves are filled by you, while the blind self can be filled by a trusted person. The unknown self is hard to discover and might require help of a mental health professional. 
This exercise will help you understand the gap between how you perceive yourself and how others perceive you. This can be a good point from where you can start your journey towards self-growth.

2. Morning Pages

Every morning, write at least 1 page about anything that comes to your mind. You can even simply write ‘I don’t have anything on my mind’ but still keep writing it. The point is to let your subconscious take over and tell you about yourself through these random blabber!

3. Making a date with yourself

Every week, make a date with yourself to unlock your creative side. Choose a new activity to do every week. Try pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and explore your nether regions. Try exploring your own city like a tourist or try a new genre of movie. Make sure to sit with yourself and reflect on your experience after that activity. You are bound to learn new things about yourself and unlock your creativity too!

4. Paradigm Shift 

Take a large coloured image or an advertisement from a newspaper and cut it into small pieces. Now, build a new design with the small pieces. Give it a title and if you are doing it with someone then explain them what this new design is about.
After the activity ask yourself these questions:
How did it feel to convert one image to another?
How difficult was it to “let go” of the first picture?
What is necessary to “let go” of one thing so that something new can take its place?
When have you successfully done this in the past? OR When have you seen this done successfully?

5. Take self-assessment tests

You can also take a few personality and character assessments available online to get a better understanding about yourself. One suggestion is VIA Character Survey and Strengths Finder. Remember that these tests are not absolute and don’t define who you are. They are mere suggestions to work upon!

Let’s take the first step towards an enlightening journey towards self-growth by practicing self-awareness!



REFERENCES:

What is Self-Awareness and Why is it Important? [+5 Ways to Increase It]. (2020). Retrieved 6 July 2020, from https://positivepsychology.com/self-awareness-matters-how-you-can-be-more-self-aware/

What Is Self-Awareness, and How Do You Get It?. (2020). Retrieved 6 July 2020, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/click-here-happiness/201903/what-is-self-awareness-and-how-do-you-get-it

Self-Awareness: How It Develops and Why It Matters. (2020). Retrieved 6 July 2020, from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-self-awareness.

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