Self-Awareness: Why it is Good for Success.

Self-awareness is a sterling quality every leader and success enthusiast must acquire in their gusto stride to greatness. Whether it is a private or multinational organizational setting, self-awareness is uniquely important for success. It is an attitude every leader or organization must crave for. The beauty of self-awareness is that it affords individuals to learn so many details about themselves, including their strengths, weaknesses, limitations, skills, values, and sense of judgment. It validates every commitment we make to succeed.

Self-awareness is a conscious understanding of one’s own character, feelings, motives, and desires. An organizational psychologist Tasha Eurich classified self-awareness into two, namely internal self-awareness which borders on one clearly seeing their own thoughts and feelings. And the second is external self-awareness which is clearly seeing how others see us. In general, it affects how individuals behave concerning how they interact with other people.

Self-awareness has a massive impact on the quest for success. This is because self-aware individuals are more likely to be high performing to set and achieve crucial goals, minimize cost, and mitigate loss. Self-aware individuals are constantly seeking ways to improve their skills. They can improve a variety of skills that are crucial to maximize the efforts of others. Essential skills like listening, communicating, decision-making, Conflict-management, and accepting and giving feedback are maximized through self-awareness.

One crucial element of self-awareness is paying attention to the emotions of an individual and that of others. In other words, it is more or less an extension of emotional intelligence (EQ). According to Daniel Coleman it is one of the five elements of emotional intelligence (EQ); whereas, EQ is the ability to identify and manage one’s emotions, as well as identify and influence the emotion of others. And this is good for success. I hope to discuss EQ in one of my posts in the nearest future. So watch out for it. Hence, self-awareness is a success essential as it promotes high performance and capacity building.

Moreover, by seeking to understand the impact of their emotions and actions on others individuals set up and maintain a working environment devoid of emotional glitches. Such an atmosphere encourages a win-win spirit, where every party is happy and satisfied with the outcome. Success thrives most under such an atmosphere.

One truth you must understand is that becoming self-aware is a real-life process that requires commitment, time, persistence, doggedness, and humility. These four basic steps can help you in your quest to become self-aware.

Becoming self-aware begins with you being mindful of yourself. The term mindfulness refers to focusing on one’s awareness of the present moment while being mindful of events around them. It is trying to understand how your experiences in life can influence your thinking and actions. Through mindfulness, you can leverage your thought process and actions to succeed in any given endeavor.

You must broaden your knowledge if you want to become self-aware. In cultivating self-awareness you must thoroughly educate yourself through formal and informal methods. Seek resources that deal with the concept of self-awareness. For instance, consider drawing upon a growing body of information about mindfulness, and other branches of knowledge on self-awareness.

You can also improve your self-awareness level by soliciting feedback. Studies have shown that effective and successful individuals seek feedback from a variety of persons including peers, bosses, employees, and customers. Feedback gives you a vivid picture of how you feel and think about yourself, as against how others see, think, or feel about you. Soliciting feedback exposes the individual’s vulnerability and the stack reality of the need for improvement.

One way to cultivate self-awareness is to conduct periodic assessments of your personality and style. This is a critical part of the process. Always conduct a formal check on your progress from time to time. This is where feedback comes in. Ask yourself how people see or feel about your personality and style. Is it okay? Then if it is okay consolidate them. These are your strength; you must capitalize on them in cultivating self-awareness. In the same vein ask yourself what are the negative feelers about your personality and style. These are your weaknesses which you must commit every effort to improve. In general, conducting formal assessments helps a great deal in cultivating self-awareness.

In all, self-awareness is imperative to succeeding in life, and it requires time, commitment, persistence, doggedness, and humility to cultivate it. You must acquire it if want to keep a date with success and greatness in life.