Self-awareness is a great thing. It teaches us about how are are
in the world and about how we interact with everything and everyone one
we come in contact with. The self-knowledge we gain can be incredible.
However, self-awareness has to be turned into self-knowledge or it is of
little use to us. If not taken this next step it only sits on a shelf
in our sub-conscious and waits for us to need it and call it back into
consciousness, if we ever have a need for it that is. What do we have to
do to create real understanding?
We can used some tools that are designed to help us really understand ourselves and then we have to take the next step about deciding what to do about what we have learned. But first things first. What are a couple of tools that will help us gain that self-understanding? Here are two that I think are outstanding:
Mirroring. Someone once said that everything is a mirror. That is very true and we can learn a lot by paying attention. One example is to pay attention to how people treat us. They will mirror to us how we teach them to respond to us. For instance, if people are taking advantage of you then you are doing something that tells them that it is not only alright to treat you that way but that it is what you want and expect. Think about that. What might you be doing that would give them that message? Another example might be that you find that people don't have time for you. You might be sending them the message that you don't think you are worthy of their time. What could you be doing that would send them that message? Be aware and you will get your own thoughts and beliefs mirrored back to you. That will give you a very good understanding of how you show up in the world.
We can used some tools that are designed to help us really understand ourselves and then we have to take the next step about deciding what to do about what we have learned. But first things first. What are a couple of tools that will help us gain that self-understanding? Here are two that I think are outstanding:
Mirroring. Someone once said that everything is a mirror. That is very true and we can learn a lot by paying attention. One example is to pay attention to how people treat us. They will mirror to us how we teach them to respond to us. For instance, if people are taking advantage of you then you are doing something that tells them that it is not only alright to treat you that way but that it is what you want and expect. Think about that. What might you be doing that would give them that message? Another example might be that you find that people don't have time for you. You might be sending them the message that you don't think you are worthy of their time. What could you be doing that would send them that message? Be aware and you will get your own thoughts and beliefs mirrored back to you. That will give you a very good understanding of how you show up in the world.
Journaling. Writing in a guided journal is another great way to learn a lot about yourself. A guided journal has starter sentences or topics at the top of each page. You are suppose to respond to those starters with your own thoughts about them. When you go back and read your journal entries you begin to see trends, themes, attitudes and beliefs pop out at you. It is up to you to decide what to do about them and good guided journals give you space to do that. A great guided journal to use is The Discovery Journal available at lulu.com. It will guide you through a wide range of self-awareness topics.
Try these two tools and see what you come up with. Turn
the things you learn into action steps to create the person you want to
be.
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