Self awareness gives you the capacity to learn from your mistakes as well as your successes. It enables you to keep growing— Lawrence Bossidy

Hey friends! After watching an intriguing Gary Vee video awhile back and looking at my own life; I’ve been dying to write about this thing called Self- awareness. Honestly guys, I had to dig deep and say “Sharron who are you”. Yes, I love fashion but as I stated its more, life is so much more.

This is the time of year where our minds shift for the good and bad. End of the year analysis of our goals, passions, false resolutions (who know that resolution didn’t happen, lol) and the like.  Certainly being in this social media space doesn’t help the false narrative. The everyone is perfect world, the we have it all together, so consumed with things, perfection, likes and comments WORLD.  Lets be real, we don’t have it all together.

So,  Self -awareness what is it? Deep down its the ability to focus on yourself and how your actions, thoughts, or emotions do or don’t align. Self-awareness is merely “auditing who you are“,   paying attention to the way you behave.

Sounds great, right? But also a little elusive too. So really, HOW does one become self-aware? And why should you invest in doing so? Well, let’s dive in!

In the book, Insight: The Power of Self Awareness in a Self-Deluded World, organizational psychologist Tasha Eurich investigates self-awareness. According to Eunich’s research, 95% of people think they’re self-aware, but the real number is closer to 10% to 15%. WOW, these numbers really surprised me.

How do I become more self aware though?

I’m gonna refrain from taking y’all to church but have you heard the phrase – come as you are? It’s part of a bible verse, however it doesn’t mean what I’m implying but it’s a poignant phrase. You have to really know yourself, be honest and true, literally. This isn’t always the easiest thing. It is definitely not as straight forward as it may seem either, because we play a lot of mind games with ourselves. You’ve got to peel back the facade, admit things you don’t want to admit. Give yourself grace for wherever you are right now.

For me as I’ve gotten older, I’ve had to let go of all my self-judgement (as much as possible). I had to accept myself for where I am and who I am. I had to accept my shortcomings and know my strengths are far BIGGER! This is been hard and sometimes even confusing because we have this “ideal” self that we STRIVE to be. Its so important to understand who we are when we’re NOT trying, you know? It’s interesting and even challenging to think about. Let’s be honest, it’s a lot easier to point out these hard truths in others than it is to acknowledge them in ourselves.

I attempt to take time to reflect at the end of each day when I’m home, and cozied up on my sofa or bed. Or super late at night when I can’t sleep. Journaling has also been helping me a lot with this. Its super nice to be able to look back, look for trends in my emotions and actions from day to day.  

Without taking time to reflect, I really don’t think I’d be able to really identify where I want to improve on a personal level.  I find an opportunity to clear my mind, just breath and check in on how I’m feeling and what I’m worried about. I worry too much and its something I have to work on continually. Do you know what I mean?

Reflect on who you are and what is important to you. This could be done in the form of journaling, reciting affirmations, prayer, meditation, working out or yoga.

 How will being self aware actually help me? Why does it Matter?

It really is so important to train your mind (or maybe force it) to STOP and consciously think about the life you’re living: to think about how you feel about everything and whether or not you’re moving in the right direction. This is especially important if you’re trying to improve or work towards something “more” (or just different) for yourself or a relationship. The more you pay attention to yourself, the better you’ll understand why you do the things you do. And the more you know about your own habits and functionalities, the easier it is to improve or change.

It’s interesting and oftentimes surprising for me to realize that what I’m doing doesn’t correlate with what I want. And yet I keep on living, oftentimes in auto-pilot mode – doing things that contradict what I “think” I want. So it’s important to take the time to actually think about it and be honest with yourself.

Going back the original question – why does it still matter or why should you prioritize getting to know yourself? Omg, there are a million reasons. Okay maybe not a million! Here are 4 areas that will greatly benefit from being more self aware:

Self Improvement or Change

Self-awareness is crucial for any sort of self improvement or personal development. Not only do you have to be aware of what you want to change to begin any such journey, but you’ve also got to be committed to checking back in with yourself. It’s this continual commitment to being self-aware that will make the difference as it guides and directs you along your journey, facilitating adjustments and learning along the way. Self Awareness is the first step in taking control of your life, creating what you want, and mastering your future.

Communication & Relationships

 When you’re self-aware, you understand how others perceive you and how you might be coming across. It’s important to know your weaknesses and blindspots so you can be proactive in improving upon them.  This can be very valuable when it comes to investing in and building relationships – whether it be with your coworkers, friends or family.

Embrace your Life Story 

Always embrace your life story. We all have a story, whether we want to share it or not. Our story is our story. Be honest and truthful about yourself and your deepest thoughts and feelings. Your mind is a product of you know karma. All your past, YOUR STORY is stored there you know. It is the only place where you can find truths about yourself, apart from any information you may receive from others. By knowing both, you can bring the power of truth into your consciousness and free it from ignorance, falsehood and delusion.

Managing Career Goals

 This one is so important because the better you understand your strengths and weakness (on a personal and professional level), the more equipped you’ll be to focus on cultivating your strengths rather than getting distracted or dragged down by your weaknesses. I talked about this before, you don’t have to be good at everything, but you should foster and focus more of your energy on the things you ARE good at. I know for me, I will be! In order to do that, you’ve got to figure out (or be aware of) what those things are!

Bottom line is that I’m really passionate about the role that self-awareness can play in self improvement and/or development. It has made such a positive difference in my life and so I wanted to talk more about this topic and see what you guys thought! Honestly, after reading this, I still find myself wanting to say more and/or overthinking as I always do. I’m going to press publish anyway. I hope something here speaks to you! Let me know!

Hey you! Yes, you. Let’s CHAT

What are some of your tips for taking it easy and finding time to become more self-aware? How has becoming more self-aware helped you in your life? Please don’t hesitate to comment below if anything I said above stuck out to you and you’d like to chat about it more!

I love writing these kind of more (non fashionista) type blog posts and especially appreciate when you guys chime in via comments!

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 Outfit Details: Half Knit Embossed Top Kyrzcloset (no longer available) //Crop jeans here  // Genuine leather Chloe dupe here // Green Mango Booties (no longer available) similar) here // here// Jessie Simpson Sunnies