Awareness is key to change
Awareness is the key to change
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Awareness: [noun]
Knowledge and understanding that something is happening or exists
Human beings are hardwired to live with what’s familiar to them.
This is what you know and you are confident that you can endure it because familiarity is predictable and brings the comfort of certainty. Even if you’re unhappy in your life with your body, your job, your relationship, your financial situation, your living situation - you can predict what will be coming your way, which is comfortably uncomfortable.
Change, either big or small, brings another layer of discomfort because you are unable to predict the outcome of making that change. We have an uncanny ability to rationalize why something new or risky won’t work, to take us back to what is familiar and comfortable despite the desire to make these positive changes.
Complacency: [noun]
Self-satisfaction, especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies
Can you think of any areas of your life where you might be complacent? Is your complacency preventing you from discovering more success, more self acceptance, more happiness, more health, a better life?
Practicing self awareness is the first step to making any desired change. In the simplest terms, it is information gathering. It is you picking up your magnifying glass and investigating yourself so that you may make the changes necessary to get to your goals.
Becoming more aware of your current actions, thoughts, strengths and weaknesses can be uncomfortable work as you discover more about yourself and the hard work that may be ahead to get to where you want to be, but this work will release you from endless cycles of complacency and self-destructive behavior.
Gary John Bishop, author of the book “Unfu*k Yourself”, says “When you understand what is going on in the darkness with you, you’re much more empowered to strike towards the light.”
It is common to darken your awareness to things that may require change, whether it's because you doubt yourself, have been told from others that it's impossible, or you just fear the hard work. But you have the ability to illuminate those dark things - it just takes progressive work.
So what does practicing self awareness look like?
Tasha Eurich, organizational psychologist and author of “Insight: Why We Aren’t As Self Aware As We Think,” offers great tips on increasing your self awareness:
She recommends the following practices:
Daily self check-ins: Asking yourself at the end of each day the following questions:
What went well for me today?
What didn’t go so well for me today?
What can I do to be smarter tomorrow?
These daily check-ins will increase your awareness as you discover areas that require some changes and improve on them little by little over time.
2. Introspection: [noun] the process of examining your own thoughts or feelings
Self-examination work can bring awareness to the mistakes that you have made in the past or continue to make in any given area or situation.
Asking yourself “What” rather than “Why” can help you focus on the solution and moving forward. Asking yourself “Why” keeps you focusing on the problem at hand and trapped in the past. For example, asking yourself “What part of that issue do I own?” rather than “Why does this issue always arise?” and “What can I do differently in the future?” rather than “Why do I always make that mistake?”
3. Compare and contrast: If you find a familiar situation happening over time, compare and contrast the situation. This helps to notice what changes to make when these situations arise.
For example, if you notice that every time you start a new nutrition plan to become the healthiest version of yourself and by week 2 or 3 you resort back to old habits, then comparing and contrasting the different times in which you’ve attempted a new nutrition plan may help. Do you try to change too much, too fast every time? Do you have unrealistic expectations and start to become discouraged by “slow” progress? Do you doubt yourself and your worthiness to achieve success?
Or maybe you procrastinate on a task because the thought of it brings discomfort? Comparing and contrasting the different times in which you procrastinate a specific task can help you become aware of what to change regarding that task so that you procrastinate less in the future.
Choosing one practice from above and working it daily will help increase your self awareness. Overtime, increased self awareness will not only allow you to make changes in areas of your life you want to improve, but it will insulate you from outside factors and voices that may have caused you to quit in the past.
Self awareness is the key to making change and will set the upper limit for your achievements. Rather than feeling stuck with your current situation, practice expanding your awareness to your choices, behaviors, actions, and reactions.
A new sense of freedom comes with self awareness. Embrace it!
Xo,
Katie
Sources:
Merriam-Webster dictionary online
The Art of Manliness - #664: How to Develop Greater Self-Awareness with organizational psychologist Tasha Eurich
Author - Gary John Bishop, Unfu*k Yourself - Get Out Of Your Head and Into Your Life
