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Lack of self-awareness is like a blind man trying to drive a car. He can steer with his front wheels, but he has no idea where he will end up.
If you don’t know where you are going, how can you possibly know when you have arrived? And without a clear picture of who you are and where you are going, it is impossible to have any real sense of direction.
In the world of personal development, self-awareness is king.
Without it, it is almost impossible to make any progress whatsoever.
You see, if you do not understand where you are coming from, it is difficult (if not impossible) to go anywhere else. You will be mired in a sea of confusion and frustration.
On the other hand, once you develop a strong sense of self-awareness, everything else in your life will fall into place. It is almost like discovering a secret map that shows you the hidden pathways that connect the dots of your life.
Sadly so many people never learn this. They never discover the value of self-awareness. And thus, they spend a lifetime struggling.
In this article, I’m going to reveal how to use self-awareness activities to help you learn to become aware of your true self.
Self-awareness activities and exercises increase your knowledge of yourself. This in turn makes you a more well-rounded person with a greater capacity for empathy.
Healthy self-awareness helps you to identify your strengths and weaknesses. It enables you to adjust your behaviour so you can become more successful. This way you avoid making mistakes that could have disastrous consequences.
Unhealthy self-awareness blinds you to your strengths while exaggerating your weaknesses.
Being unaware of your thoughts, feelings can lead to impulsive desires and actions. These impulsive actions can have disastrous effects on your health and relationships.
On the other hand, healthier, more productive people have positive states of self-awareness. They know they have strengths, but they are also aware of their weaknesses.
Hence a healthy self-awareness lets them acknowledge their flaws without getting stuck.
Having adequate Self-knowledge allows you to see things as they really are. This in turn gives you the power to make healthy choices. It frees up a lot of wasted time taken by emotional pain and futile attempts at "self-healing".
The ability to make healthy choices leads to higher self-esteem and more fulfilment. All in all, it's a virtuous circle.
Increased self-awareness also helps you avoid the strengths vs weakness trap many people fall into.
Did you know that your biggest strengths can have both a positive and negative effect on your life?
Have you fallen into this trap too? Have you developed faulty beliefs about your weaknesses? And has this skewed your self-perceptions in a nasty way?
You believe that your weaknesses are the sole reason for all your problems.
BUT THIS IS A BIG FAT LIE!
The truth is that your weaknesses only exist because you have strengths feeding them. By over-relying on your strengths you fail to see how they cause your weaknesses to develop.
Your strengths blind you to the truth. And this blindness traps you in a distorted reality. You become vulnerable to the unhealthy and negative forces around you.
And this distortion affects your view of yourself and your relationships. It distorts your ideas about what's fair and just. It distorts your vision of the future. It keeps you from fully participating in life and from experiencing true happiness.
This is why you've got to...
To rewire your brain for improved self-awareness, simply read, practice and master the following 14 self-awareness skills sets.
Ready to dive in?
Let's go...
Social self-awareness means being aware of your own personal sensitivities. It is that ability to read non-verbal signals and understand others’ points of view.
Without the ability to adapt it will be hard to have a satisfying relationship with other people. You will find it very difficult to work out what people want and need from you... and you will always feel confused about what they are thinking.
1. How do you feel about your friends?
2. Do your friends support and encourage you to move forward in spite of your fears?
3. Are your friends there when you need them the most?
4. How would you describe your relationships with your family?
5. Do your parents understand what you are going through?
6. How do your siblings feel about you?
7. Do you have family or friends you can confide in?
8. How would you describe your relationship with your co-workers? Are they friendly and accepting?
1. Self-disclosure: Share details about yourself with others and make it easier for them to understand you better.
2. Active listening: Pay attention (with interest and curiosity) to what other's are saying. make them know they are important to you.
3. Compassion practice: Try your best to identify other peoples situations and connect with their perspectives.
4. Understanding skills: Practice getting to the true meaning behind the other person’s words and actions. Avoid making assumptions or jumping to conclusions.
5. Empathy skills: Practice becoming aware of other people's feelings and behaviours so you can adjust to them.
6. Appreciation skills: Endeavor to notice people's positive attributes and accept their shortcomings. This makes you a better person to be around
7. Generosity: Regularly give things to others without expecting anything in return.
8. Acceptance: Practice being okay with the fact that other people may not agree with your opinions. And that some people may dislike you for just being you.
9. Using Humour: Use humour to make people laugh and warm up to you.
Cognitive self-awareness is the ability to be aware of your own thinking process. This allows you to monitor your own mental activity. It Ultimately makes you more objective in your decision making. .
Without this ability, your emotions will sway you to decide thins based on gut feel rather than logic.
This can lead to disastrous results. For example, many people with low cognitive self-awareness are extremely successful in business.
But, once they are in a relationship, they struggle to admit when they are wrong. And find it hard to accept other people's points of view. In short, they are unable to adapt to change and evolve as a person.
1. What is your earliest memory?
2. What is your most deeply felt belief?
3. What do you consider the most over-rated virtue?
4. What is the one thing you would most like to change about yourself?
5. What is the trait you most dislike in other people? (It might be honesty.)
6. What do you like best about your job?
7. What do you like best about your job?
8. If you could change one thing about your present life, what would it be? (Maybe it's time you did something nice for someone else.)
9. What is the trait you find most attractive in other people? (It might be loyalty.)
2. Read a book you've already read. (You'll remember it better this way.)
3. Make an attempt to solve a difficult math problem.
4. Watch a YouTube video you know you will have trouble understanding.
5. Go to a movie you've seen before.
6. Take a bus or a subway ride by yourself.
7. Ask someone to explain something to you that you find complicated.
8. Buy a book on tape and listen to it.
11. Do the opposite of what you usually do.
12. Talk to people who have different points of view than you
Behavioural self-awareness is the ability to understand your behaviour... And understand other people's behaviours. It is one of the core building blocks of interpersonal effectiveness.
Without this skill, it will be hard to understand the causes of your own and others' emotions. Without behavioural self-awareness, you will behave in ways that work against you.
You'll struggle to function well in group settings. And you be unable to maintain a satisfying intimate relationship.
Behavioural self-awareness enables you to be more effective at work and at home. It be more content with yourself and also helps you understand other people.
This way, you can communicate effectively with them, and get along better.
1. What are my top 5 reasons for doing things?
2. What do I most want (and least want) in a partner/spouse/lover?
3. If I were to die tomorrow, what would be the one thing I would most like people to remember about me?
4. What is the first thing I think about whenever I wake up in the morning?
5. What is the last thing I think about before I go to sleep at night?
6. What would be my #1 priority if I were elected president of the United States of America?
7. What do I wish someone had told me 15 years ago that would have helped me avoid many of the problems in my life?
1. Pay attention to what you say and write. This will help you understand how your words impact people.
2. Pay attention to your body language. Do you unconsciously lean toward or away from other people when you are talking to them? Do you cross your arms when you are upset? Do you fidget or do you become still and rigid when you are nervous?
3. Pay attention to your surroundings. Do you notice the colours of the things around you? How is the light affecting the objects in your environment?
4. When you are talking to someone, do you tend to look at or focus on the same things that person is looking at or focused on?
5. Be open to feedback. Are people often telling you how you come across? Is there someone with enough insight and objectivity to give you an honest assessment of your communication skills?
6 Pay attention to your self-talk.
Physical self-awareness is being aware of your body and how it functions. This is extremely important for humans because...
Without this awareness, we would be unconscious (like a rock). We wouldn't be able to understand the nature of our own lives.
Without this awareness, we wouldn't be able to comprehend anything ourselves or others.
1. How do I feel about my body? (positive or negative)
2. What do I like and dislike about my body?
3. How would I change my body if I could?
4. Do I weigh what I should? (if so, how much?)
5. Do I keep fit or fat? (if fat, how much fat?)
6. Do I have any serious health problems related to my weight or my physical condition? (if yes, what are they?)
7. How much do I sleep? (if less than 5 hours, you need to re-think some things in your life.)
8. How do I feel about my sexual appetite?
1. If you have a watch, count how many minutes you walk each day. Don't keep track of miles!
2. Count how many times you sit down and get up during the day. Sitting for long periods of time is one of the biggest causes of chronic back pain.
3. Make sure you are sitting in good posture. Bend your knees when you sit down. Straighten your legs when you stand up. Take a few minutes every hour or so to check your body posture whenever you are in a meeting, sitting in a car, on a plane, or wherever else you are sitting for long periods of time.
4. If you drive a car, keep a careful record of how many miles you drive each week.
4. Take notice of how you feel after you have been sitting or standing for a long period of time. Does your back hurt?
6. Make a point to get regular exercise. It's good for you. A good place to start is by walking once around the block every day. If you don't feel good after a few days, try another exercise like running or cycling.
7. Practice conscious breathing.
Intellectual Self-Awareness is the ability of a person to recognize his or her own thoughts and ideas as being part of the person himself or herself...
Rather than externally generated by something or someone else. This helps people to better understand the impact they have on others. And helps them adjust their actions to create positive change in other areas of life.
1. What is your favourite subject in school?
2. Do you have a photographic memory?
3. How well do you think you understand what you read?
4. Do you remember what you learn easily and what you learn poorly?
5. Do you ever forget anything you have learned?
6. What is the best way for you to study?
7. What is your most difficult subject?
8. What is the best way to learn something new?
9. What do you like best about yourself?
10. What do you like least?
1. Study the opinions of others
2. Listen to and watch educational TV programs
3. Attend educational meetings
4. Ask lots of questions
5. Take short trips
6. Attend plays and performances
Analytical self-awareness is the ability to understand yourself and how you react. It is the ability to understand why you do the things you do and say the things you say.
Analytical self-awareness is an important ingredient in creating successful relationships.
People who are unaware of their own motives and emotions are often taken advantage of by others. They are easy targets for scams, fraud, and poor advice. But, people who are aware of their feelings have an advantage in life. They have the ability to craft viable strategies to reach their goals.
1. What do you like most about yourself?
2. What don't you like about yourself?
3. What would you change about yourself if you could?
4. What is the best thing that ever happened to you?
5. What is the worst thing that ever happened to you?
6. What is the most important thing you have to learn right now?
7. What do you want most in the world?
1. Pay attention to my own feelings and those of others.
2. Ask questions whenever I don't understand something.
3. Think about the purpose of my actions.
4. Make an honest effort to see things from other people's points of view.
5. Think about what I want and how I will feel when I get it.
6. Be open to new ideas and ways of thinking.
7. Make an honest effort to improve in every area of my life.
8. Express my feelings, even if they are negative.
9. Don't be afraid to make mistakes.
10. Try new things, even if they seem scary at first.
Value-based self-awareness enables people to know what is important to them. It is the bedrock of all successful relationships and healthy businesses. Without value-based self-awareness, you can spend your life chasing the wrong things. And you can waste your time and energy on things that cause you more harm than good.
1. What is my true vocation?
What Is my core Purpose In Life?
2. What do I really want to do with my life?
3. What makes me tick?
4. What turns me on and what turns me off?
5. What would I really like to learn?
6. What is my favourite colour, music, book and movie?
7. What is my dream car?
8. What is my idea of heaven?
9. What is my idea of hell?
1. Investigate values: Read biographies of great men and women. Notice how they had a wide range of different values struggle. Explore how they sacrificed greatly for what they believed was right.
2. Determine your core purpose in life: Examine your life from a "big picture" perspective, and look for those activities, relationships and accomplishments that give your life meaning and purpose.
3. Write a personal manifesto: Write a short essay or list of bullet points describing who you are, what you believe in and what you stand for.
4. Create a life vision mission: Describe your ideal life (both present and future). Then, write out a clear, simple description of how to get from where you are now to where you want to be.
5 Explore your self-limiting beliefs: Use visualization and affirmations to understand and change destructive beliefs
6. Write a regret letter: Describe a time when you did something you later came to regret. Explain why you did it, and how you would do it differently today.
7. Goals planning and Goal Setting: Make a list of all the things you want to achieve in the next year. Rank this list in order of importance. Set yourself a goal of achieving the most important one first. Then work on the second most important one. And so on.
8. Create a bucket list: Make a list of things you would like to accomplish before you die. It should include things you have always wanted to try and things you have only dreamed about doing.
9. Keep yourself on track: Prioritize and write down your most important tasks. Regularly review your progress at completing these tasks.
Moral self-awareness is the ability to understand what is right from wrong, good from bad, true from false, kind from unkind, just from unfair, honourable from dishonourable... in other words... to have a "moral compass" that always points you in the right direction.
1. How do you feel about anything you have done wrong?
2. How do you feel about other people who may think what you have done was wrong?
3. How do you feel when someone else does something you think is right?
4. How do you react when someone achieves something better than you?
5. When you make a mistake, do you try to hide it or do you admit it and try to amend it?
1. Pay attention to your own behaviour: Notice your own actions. Are they consistent with your values? Do they reflect a sense of humility and integrity?
2. Observe the behaviours of others: Notice how others behave around you, and how you react. What are the common characteristics of those people? What would it be like to spend time with them?
3. Think about how your morals influence your behaviour: Read or watch stories of people who were faced with a moral dilemma. Notice the consequences of their choices. How did they change?
4. Write down three "Moral" values that are important to you and explain why.
5. Next, write down three Moral values that are not important to you and explain why.
6. Now, compare your lists. Which ones do you think were generated from your own thinking and which ones were given to you by someone else?
7. Notice what you like and dislike: Recognize what makes you feel good and what makes you angry.
8. Think about why you do (or don't) like or dislike something.
9. Think about whether your morals are in conflict with one another.
10. Think about how your actions impact others.
11. Think about whether your actions are in alignment with your values.
12. Practice self-evaluation: Consider the value of your actions. Ask yourself: What is my motive in making a decision? Ask yourself how you're treating others. Are you Letting go of your grudges? Try to understand the motives behind the things people do, even those who have wronged you.
13. Make a "mirror check" on yourself by having someone else evaluate you as you would like to be evaluated.
Relational self-awareness is the ability to recognize what you feel in a relationship and how this impacts your actions.
This is important because when you can accurately assess your feelings for others, you are more likely to act in a way that lead to a positive outcomes.
1. What is my primary relationship need?
2. Do you ever feel ignored or put down when you try to tell your partner how you feel?
3. How am I relating to myself?
4. How am I relating to my partner?
5. Do you ever feel ignored or put down when you try to tell your partner how you feel?
6. How am I relating to my family?
7. Who or what is your greatest support?
7. How am I relating to my friends?
8. Do you like most people or only a few?
6. How am I relating to my work?
7. How am I relating to the world at large?
1. Build the Pause-and-Plan Response habit: Take an hour once a week to sit down and prepare yourself in advance to respond to what comes up in your life. Plan how you will respond, and practice it.
2. Understanding yourself and others through behavioural preferences: Think about the time you have spent with people you have liked and those you have not. Notice which behaviours have contributed to your positive relationships.
3. Ask trusted friends or family for feedback: Ask for feedback on how they perceive your interactions with them. Make sure to ask questions about what you can do to improve the relationship.
4. Observe other people: Notice the way people communicate with each other, and how it affects you. Watch how they move, how they talk, how they make eye contact and how they respond to you.
5. Be aware of your body language: Try to avoid an angry, defensive or dismissive posture. You can change this through awareness and intention. For instance, notice when you are tapping your fingers while talking on the phone and consciously try to put your hand on your knee instead.
6. Keep healthy boundaries: Practice saying "no" to people who make way too many demands off you.
Recognize when someone is putting themselves on a pedestal or making you feel inadequate. Learn how to set appropriate boundaries so that you can move on with your life.
Financial Self-Awareness is the ability to recognize our own money-making capabilities and the awareness of our own financial goals.
This gives us the ability to protect ourselves. When we are aware of our own financial capabilities, we can make wise choices.
We can also recognize when someone else is trying to take advantage of us.
1. How much do you make? This will give you a good idea of what your income range is.
2. Do you have a pension or other retirement plan? If so, how much do you contribute?
3. How much do you spend on rent or mortgage? This will give you an idea of your housing expenses.
4. How much do you spend on food and groceries? This will give you an idea of your daily needs.
5. Do you have any debts? If yes, what are they?
6. Do you have a savings account or money market fund? (If so, how much is in it?)
7. How much do you spend on entertainment? (This will give you an idea of your discretionary spending.)
8. What is your net worth? (This will give you a snapshot of your financial situation at a single point in time.)
1. Read Your Bank Statements
2. Track Your Spending For One Month
3. Analyze Your Current Income And Expenditures
4. Maintain A Realistic Perspective Of Your Financial Situation
5. Set Goals And Have A Regular Progress Review With Yourself
6. Develop A Support System Of Family And Friends To Help You Achieve Your Goals
7. Consider Putting Some Of Your Hard-Earned Money Into An Investment Fund, Personally Managed By You
8. If you are carrying a balance on your credit card, pay off that card every month
9. Limit Your Use Of Credit To Necessary Expenses Only
10. Seek Professional Advice From A Certified Financial Planner Or An Attorney Who Specializes In Bankruptcy
Your spiritual self-awareness is your intuitive sense of the core of your being. It is your awareness of your "higher" self, your God-given "inner voice" that speaks to you from within.
It is your instinctual knowingness of what you really want out of life, deep down in your heart.
This is the part of you that is larger than your ego and the part of you that is connected to your higher or spiritual self.
This is the part of you that is aware of your true purpose on earth. It is aware of your connection to a much greater source of inspiration, guidance, and love.
When you are spiritually self-aware, you are not controlled by your ego. The ego is always seeking temporary fulfilment through the accumulation of material things.
Instead, you are connected to your deeper inner truth and divine wisdom. Hence you are more likely to tap into true lasting joy, happiness, peace and abundance.
1. Who are you?
2. What do you believe?
3. What have you neglected?
4. What have you overexerted yourself on?
5. What do you take for granted?
6. What is your purpose here on earth?
7. What is your deepest fear?
8. What is the strongest part of you?
2. Pray every day.
3. Meditate.
4. Learn to forgive.
5. Spend time in nature.
6. Do volunteer work.
7. Don't criticize.
8. Reach out to others.
9. Do charity deeds regularly
10. Adopt a philosophy of gratitude.
11. Attend a worship service
Dispositional self-awareness is the ability to know your own strengths and weaknesses. If you don't know what your strong points are, you won't be able to make the most of your natural talents. If you don't know what your weak points are, you can't really work on improving them.
Dispositional self-awareness is the ability to accurately understand your own unique nature.
Without this awareness, it is difficult if not impossible to lead a satisfying life. People who are not aware of their unique qualities tend to surround themselves with other similar-minded people.
Thus creating a cycle of sameness and mediocrity. On the other hand, people with a high level of dispositional self-awareness tend to enjoy a far more satisfying life.
They achieve this by living in an atmosphere of curiosity and adventure. And by having the courage to be themselves.
1. What are your personal strengths?
2. What are your personal weaknesses?
3. What do you think you could do better?
4. What do you think you should change about yourself?
5. What one quality would you like to increase in your life?
6. What would you like to decrease in your life?
4. What would you consider to be your greatest accomplishment?
8. What do you think is your most significant flaw or failing?
9. What is the very first positive change you would make about your life if you could start all over again?
1. Reflect on your strengths and weaknesses at least once every week.
2. Write down on a piece of paper the five most important traits you have. Circle them.
4. Next, write down the five most important traits you would like to have. Circle them.
5. Now, compare your lists. Are there any traits you are more aware of than others? Which ones are the same? Which ones are different?
6. Use the Self-Awareness Wheel to determine the degree to with you possess traits of honesty, trustworthiness, cheerfulness, friendliness and sensitivity
7. Keep a "self-awareness journal" where you record every description (including your own) of yourself.
8. What can you do to raise your awareness of the traits you consider important?
9. Go to the library and read as many books on self-awareness as you can.
10. Over time, you will develop a clearer idea of your own personality traits, which will enable you to identify more easily with others and to be a more effective mentor.
Creative self-awareness is knowing and accepting yourself as you truly are. It is the first step to creating the life you want. It is the ability to know your own mind, emotions and desires, and then be able to create from that knowledge.
Creative self-awareness is crucial to all humans. It gives you the power to create the future you want. You see, when you accept yourself as you are, you don't try to be something or someone you're not.
When you accept yourself as you are, you begin to understand your natural abilities and gifts. You stop trying to impress or be great, by manipulating the environment around you.
You begin to use your God-given talents to produce results that satisfy you and the people in your life.
1. How do I feel about what I have now?
2. How did I get where I am today?
3. What would I most like to change?
4. What in my life is working well?
5. What in my life is not working so well?
6. What one thing would I most like to learn?
7. What one area of my life do I feel I am the least competent in?
8. What one area of my life would I most like to develop?
9. What would I do if I knew I couldn't fail?
1. attending a creativity-enhancing seminar or workshop
2. talking with other people about their ideas and insights
3. reading biographies of great creative people
4. keeping a "dream diary"
5. taking regular vacations to explore new environments and meet new people
6. playing with toys or games that stimulate your imagination
7. making lists of words and phrases that give you insights into your own thinking processes
8. constructing a "word web" where you track the connections among the words and phrases that pop up over and over in your mind
9. doing some kind of project that forces you to let your unconscious mind take over and work its magic
The ability to accurately assess our own feelings is one of the most important skills we have as human beings. We all experience joy, sorrow, anger, happiness and many other emotions on a day-to-day basis.
Sometimes, we may feel positive about something even though others around us do not. Or perhaps we are experiencing joy because no one else can see it.
But, when we lack this skill, we can make poor decisions, act irrationally. We behave in ways that are detrimental to ourselves and those around us.
It is the ability to distinguish between the emotion of the moment and the emotion we will feel hours, days or even years from now. It is the difference between being “in the moment” and having a “big picture” perspective.
1. What emotions do you experience the most (Joy, Fear, Sadness, Anger, etc...)
2. What emotions do you experience the least often? (Love, Pride, Contentment, Admiration, etc...)
3. What emotion do you wish to increase in your life?
4. Do you consider yourself a positive or a negative person?
5. How do you deal with loss? (Discourage it. If something bad happens, find a way to change the subject or leave the room. Don't talk about it. Pretend it didn't happen.)
6. Do you ever feel insignificant?
7. Do you sometimes feel misunderstood?
8. Do you ever doubt your own opinions and feelings?
9. How would your friends describe your temperament?
1. Keep a "Dream Diary"
2. Writing down and then destroying all "negative" notes
3. Keep a "Positive Notebook"
4. Do daily affirmations (write or say something every day that you like about yourself)
5. Keep a "Wish List"
6. Every week, write at least one appreciative note to someone who has helped you.
7. Keep a thought, feeling, reaction and outcome journal daily
8. Use the ABC strategy to draw connections between your thoughts feeling and reactions regularly
9. Practice Mindfulness Meditation for ten minutes daily
10. Use the emotional pie exercise regularly
11. Practice grounding techniques.
12. Use biofeedback stress dots to train your to feel less stress
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