Self-awareness, by helping us identify how we feel, also guides us on how to make decisions about it. We explain it to you below.
Self-awareness refers to the ability of each person to observe and focus their gaze on themselves. It is a key pillar for the development of emotional intelligence, as established by Daniel Goleman. In this sense, it is also linked to self-knowledge.
Its development is a way to get out of a state of inertia —from which many function and respond “just because”— to be more aware, responsible and, at the same time, free of their choices.
This is so since part of identifying how we feel, how we would like to feel, what we can do about it and where we want to go. In the following space we delve into it.
How does self-awareness develop?
Stop, observe and focus… perhaps these are the key words to start developing self-awareness. In itself, it implies that when experiencing a certain emotion —like anger or anger, for example— there is a pause to wonder what is causing it and where it comes from, before acting.
Now, emotions have nuances. The emotional world is rarely black or white, and having the record of ‘that mix’ is also important.
What are the benefits of developing self-awareness?
Self-awareness has innumerable benefits, both on a personal level and on a human relationship level. Among them the following can be mentioned.
Understand how we are and how we act
So we can unfold our potential. Knowing ourselves allows us to identify our strengths and weaknesses, in such a way that we can identify which are those areas or facets that require more work and which are those in which we can stand out. This will also allow us to grow as people.
In addition, self-awareness will allow us to decipher our emotions. And connecting them to our behaviors and thoughts will also help us understand that we function as a whole, and not separately.
Know our body and respect our health
Self-awareness also works like a compass, guiding us and working as an alarm when certain situations are harmful and not pleasant for us. People who care to keep track of themselves can spot red flags and stop when necessary.
At the opposite extreme of self-awareness, we find people who say, “I haven’t had a bite all day, but I didn’t even notice.” These are the cases in which we work with high levels of stress and fatigue because previous signals have been ignored.
Be clearer in what we need and in our decisions
When we know each other, we are also able to identify what we need from other people, we can communicate more clearly and make more specific requests. So things, relationships also improve significantly. On the other hand, it is possible to make better decisions.
Have greater empathy towards others
By being able to understand ourselves, we are more sensitized to being able to understand what happens to others. Therefore, it will be easier to suspend critical judgment towards other people to become more empathetic. Undoubtedly, this improves interpersonal relationships.
3 Tips to Help Build Self-Awareness
Self-awareness helps us make sense of the way we feel and act. Therefore, it is important both to improve our day to day, and in the long term. There are different ways to build it; We mention a few below.
1. Ask questions
The worst enemy of growth is common sense, that state in which we take everything for granted and stop asking ourselves why things are. The same goes for self-awareness and ‘autopilot’ mode.
For this reason, one of the ways to develop it It has to do with being encouraged to go a little further with respect to how we feel, think or act, asking us some questions. Some examples are the following:
- What are we feeling?
- What made us feel this way?
- How are we acting on it?
2. Meditate and take breaks
Self-awareness also needs silence, time and pauses. It is about knowing how to find spaces for oneself and for self-care. While meditation may be one way, there are people who find it helpful to keep a journal and write down how they feel.
No matter what the format, the important thing is to be able to reserve a few minutes for yourself.
3. Ask ‘feedback’ to others
How do other people see us? Is what we know about ourselves also what we project outwards? Ask them to give us an opinion or make constructive criticism It can help us to know some blind spots.
Self-awareness in children
Self-awareness is not “a matter for grown-ups”, but can be cultivated throughout life. Its benefits are much greater when we teach children to know themselves at an earlier age. Some keys to do so are as follows.
1. Allow them to be free
On the path to self-awareness and self-knowledge, adults have a key role, since we are the ones who guide and guide from the beginning.
At this point, it is crucial to be aware of the type of education we are providing, both explicitly and in implicit gestures or behaviors. It is essential to open up the range of options and allow them to be what they want to be, always within a respectful framework for themselves and other people.
Perhaps two of the most frequent biases —although many other things derive from them— have to do with gender biases, present in phrases and beliefs such as «girls should be more delicate and boys don’t cry». Also adult-centric biases, which underestimate the abilities of children, among other examples.
2. Be companions
It is decisive that we can accompany them during the learning of self-awareness and self-knowledge, which will ultimately lead to children learning to express themselves.
In this way, they understand what is happening to them and find it easier to learn to ask for what they need and, above all, to control themselves, not to feel overwhelmed by not knowing what is happening to them.
3. Give rise to expression
It is not enough to know what is happening. It is also important to be able to express it. Here each one will find her style to do it, but it is good that we can help the little ones to find the words that help them explain what they feel or what they need.
Sometimes talking about it or putting it down in writing is helpful in sorting out those emotions. At the same time, this helps to connect both hemispheres of the brain; the left —which organizes and gives logic— and the right, which is more of emotions, memories and sensations.
Making this connection is key, especially since we have spent a lot of time educating and believing that they work independently.
Self-awareness is a great ally of respect
The development of self-awareness must be thought of as a process under construction and in permanent learning. Its relevance lies in the fact that to the extent that we know each other, we can respect each other and assert our rights.
All this not only in relation to other people, but also in relation to oneself. And it is that many times we are responsible for self-boycotting and overwhelming feelings and spaces.
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