Having self-awareness means that we have a keen understanding of our personality, including our strengths and weaknesses, our beliefs, thoughts, and emotions. It is based on the idea that we are not our thoughts, but the entity observing our thoughts.
What is self-awareness?
Daniel Goleman, a psychologist and author of Emotional Intelligence, provides a clear definition: self-awareness is the understanding of our internal states, resources, preferences, and intuitions. It is our ability to track our internal thoughts and emotions as they appear.
The aspect of not having prejudices is a fundamental element. As we notice what is happening within ourselves, we need to accept and acknowledge things as part of being human instead of punishing ourselves for it.
Self-awareness is much more than a collection of information about ourselves. It is observing our inner state with an open heart. Our minds are adept at containing data about our responses to specific instances, which can be a map of our emotions.
This information shapes our minds to respond in certain ways in similar cases. Self-awareness allows us to be aware of these preconceived ideas and mental conditioning.
How to develop self-awareness
Paying attention to our inner state as it arises helps develop our self-awareness over time. We better understand ourselves, including our dislikes and the discomfort they cause.
An excellent way to start is to ask ourselves about the cause of our discomforts because if we can identify the root cause it will be easier to solve the problem.
Becoming aware also refers to knowing ourselves, understanding what our strengths and weaknesses are.
A great way to cultivate self-awareness is to create space and time: taking the time to connect with ourselves daily, seeking solitude, practicing mindfulness and meditation, processing thoughts through writing.
The benefits of self-awareness in business
When launching a business in your later years – we like to call those individuals encore entrepreneurs, chances are you already know that leveraging your high emotional intelligence is one of your greatest resources and competitive strengths.
Self-aware leaders are also more capable of seeing things from the perspective of others, practicing self-control, and cultivating self-esteem.
According to Tasha Eurich, there are two different types of self-awareness: internal self- awareness and external self-awareness. While the former represents how we see our own values, passions and aspirations, the latter represents how we see others. Conquering both helps become an effective leader and communicator, and build successful relationships with employees, customers and vendors.
Self-aware leaders are also able to make better decisions thanks to a deeper understanding of themselves. They put aside their ego and manage the optimal performance of their team with humanity, an open-mind and empathy.
There are many recommended self-awareness exercises like the ones in this HuffPost article. You can try a different one everyday and see what works best for you.
While self-awareness and wisdom come with life experience, it is like a muscle. It will get stronger by training it every day.
As an encore entrepreneur, maintaining a healthy mind and body is key to finding balance and leading your business to success. Make sure you always take care of both. You deserve it.
