Awareness: The Conerstone of Self Improvement
As a follow-up to the “Four Easy Steps To Creating An Amazing Life” article I would like to talk a little bit about self awareness.
Self Awareness is having a clear perception of yourself, your personality, including strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, beliefs, motivation, and emotions. Self Awareness allows you to understand other people, and how they perceive you, and your attitude and your responses and reactions towards them.
Self awareness is the first step in creating an amazing life. Where you focus your attention, your emotions, reactions, personality and behavior to determine where you want go in life.
Having self awareness allows you to see where your thoughts and emotions are taking you. It also allows you to see what controls your emotions, behavior, and personality so you can make the changes you want. Until you are aware of your thoughts, emotions, words, and behavior, you will have difficulty making changes in the direction of your life.
I would like to ask you a very important question: Do you really know yourself?
Sages throughout time have stated “Know Thyself.” They have declared that it is the the key to wealth and happiness. At first glance, most people would say that they indeed do know themselves, you think you know yourself, but do you really?
Scientists claim that 95% of what we do throughout the day is controlled by our subconscious minds. Subconscious programming takes over the moment our conscious mind is not fully paying attention. So how much are you really aware of?
When you are not fully present and aware, you are moving through life on auto-pilot. Most of what you do is automated; you live by habit, reacting unconsciously to people and events around you.
Humans generally let others tell them what to do. Our minds are like computers, and blindly follow the programs that were downloaded without question when we were young. You did the same thing. Your mind is programmed to behave, to think, to react to everything that occurs in your life.
With self awareness, you take charge that programming. You live with intention, focus and purpose. You wake up to your immense potential and endless possibilities. You uncover a wealth of creativity, talent and wisdom that is already inside you, waiting to be tapped into. You begin to create an amazing life.
Have you ever been in an auto accident? You may have experienced everything happening in slow motion and noticing details of your thought process about the event. This is a state of heightened awareness. With practice you can learn to engage these types of heightened states and see new opportunities for interpretations in your thoughts, emotions, and conversations.
It’s only when you STOP and begin to pay attention to yourself that you can actually experience heightened awareness and begin to understand your subconscious programming. It is then that you can become aware of the beliefs that self-sabotage your highest intentions. It is then that you uncover the root causes of your blocks, your negativity, low self esteem, sadness, fears, overwhelming emotions and pains.
It is like going on a voyage of self discovery. You return from the voyage as a wiser and more confident individual. It is self awareness that helps to form the cornerstone of your own self improvement.
You can’t change what you are not aware of!
I have found that the feeling of dissatisfaction is the first stage of self awareness. What do I mean by this? Well, as you learn to know yourself, you learn to understand the many facets of your thoughts, your personality, and what makes you tick. Once you understand yourself, you will find areas that you are dissatisfied with. This dissatisfaction with yourself is a tremendous motivator for change. You take action to correct any areas of dissatisfaction.
As you become more aware, you will change. You will see more clearly the choices before you, and claim your power to choose what’s best for you. You will remove that which dissatisfies you and you will add that which pleases you. You control life – life no longer controls you. You become a powerful creator of an amazing life.
It is said that nothing changes until something moves. I both agree and disagree with that statement. I agree that action does cause things to change, but not all action is good action. I disagree because I think too many times people start moving/taking action without first taking the time to be aware of where they are.
I think of it in this way: Before you begin on a large journey you first must know where you are in relation to where you want to go. You must first be aware. No traveler would begin without first knowing where they were. It almost sounds silly to say, but far too many people live their lives without knowing where they are. They are not aware.
Practice stopping before starting. Before you head off in any direction, first be aware of where you are. Stop then go. With a little practice you will become more self aware.
I like to find a quiet place and close out the world, and ponder. This meditation or inward looking has proven to be very enlightening to me. I have been able to see things that I would not have seen in the noisy and busy world. Take a few minutes every now and then to sit and ponder upon your life. In these moments of heightened awareness you begin to see the life you truly can create.
Lesson: Stop. Ponder. Be aware.
