Developing self-awareness is one of the keys to building freedom, and there are two major benefits that make this possible:
To be free from yourself,
and to lead yourself towards the results you want.
How is this possible?
To be free from yourself.
Developing self-awareness allows you to uncover beliefs and motivations that are holding you back.
I used to be so afraid of failure, and when I was presented with a situation that I felt I would surely fail, I did everything in my power to get away from it. Even when I was perfectly able and capable, I’d lie just to avoid, what in my mind, I believed to be a sure fail.
Now, I can objectively point out the main reason for my behavior then, but without developing self-awareness, I still would say that the situation wasn’t feasible, that I wasn’t a great fit for the job, and that I just plain wasn’t able to do it.
Self-awareness, which extends to being aware of your environment, also grants you the freedom not to be swept away by your moods, the weather, and even the presenting problem you can be facing.
Lead yourself towards the results that you want.
Developing self-awareness not only sets you free from holding yourself back, but you can lead yourself, and develop the mindset and beliefs, to get you to where you want to be.
It allows you to gain a realization and acceptance of the current reality, and what steps you need to take.
I got to know myself better first by asking myself questions, which I had to think about, reflect, and write down my answers in my journal. This allowed me to objectively view my current beliefs and mindsets, and whether those were ones I’d like to keep.
Questions you want to answer to get to know yourself better are:
What are your most important values and principles?
What change do you want to bring about in this world?
What worries you? What’s stopping you?
Self-awareness is not only knowing what you think and believe, but also, shaping what you think and believe.
Here are some articles on developing self-awareness: