Self-aware people have a clear vision and purpose. They have the self-awareness to understand their strengths and weaknesses, and are aware how their behaviour comes off to other people.
If you want help increasing your self-awareness, this article shares 6 essential habits of self-aware people. Having self-awareness means understanding your strengths, values and motivations. When you are self-aware, you understand how your thoughts, feelings and actions impact other people.
When you are self-aware, you have the ability to understand yourself and your actions more clearly. Being self-aware helps you acknowledge other people’s feelings and make better decisions. It also helps you manage your emotions and align your behaviour with your internal standards.
Self-aware people understand what’s important and what’s not important in their life. They understand that a lack of self-awareness impacts their growth and happiness.
What is self-awareness?
Self-awareness is your ability to understand yourself and understand how other people see you, and react to you. Being self-aware means being clear and confident about your mindset, your emotions and your thinking.
Self-aware people have high internal standards, which guide their thinking and actions. When you are self-aware, you take the time to understand how your emotions and actions impact other people.
When you are self-aware, you can objectively think about your thinking. Being self-aware also helps you manage your emotions, be more present and increase your intentionality.
Why is self-awareness important?
Self-awareness is important to help guide your thinking and actions. You can develop increased self-awareness when you understand yourself better and understand how you are perceived by other people.
Having self-awareness increases feelings of gratitude and abundance. When you lack self-awareness, you blame other people and don’t take the time to understand their point of view. Lack of self-awareness also increases feelings of anxiousness, frustration and anger.
6 essential habits of self-aware people
Here are 6 habits of highly self-aware people.
1. They are intentional
Self-aware people are intentional about their thoughts and actions. They know themselves and understand their feelings, thoughts and motivations. Being self-aware gives them a clear understanding of who they are and what’s important to them.
They have guiding principles that govern what they stand for and represent who they are. This self-awareness helps them be deliberate and purposeful in everything they do.
When you are self-aware, you have clear goals and take purposeful action to achieve those goals. Read more about being intentional.
2. They are present
Highly self-aware people are mindful and always present in the moment. They pay attention to themselves and are fully focused on the people they’re with. When you have self-awareness, you acknowledge your own thoughts, feelings and emotions.
When you are self-aware, your experiences of the present moment are more powerful. This self-awareness helps you become more creative, make better decisions and set better goals.
When you are clear, focused and present in the moment, you can choose how you want to be and act in the future.
Read more about how to be present.
3. They learn from experiences
Self-aware people have a habit of learning valuable lessons from their experiences, be they good or bad. Being self-aware helps you become more reflective on your experiences, and focus on the positives in every experience.
People with self-awareness look for the learnings in every experience. They take the time to understand how they felt and how they acted. They also look at what went well and what didn’t go well in every situation.
This helps them improve how they think and act in the future.
4. They are good listeners
Self-aware people are good listeners. They develop the habit of listening more than they talk. They also understand the importance of active listening and are fully present during every conversation.
When you are self-aware, you are free of opinions, assumptions and judgements. You take the time to focus solely on others and listen hard to what they have to say.
This self-awareness helps you to understand yourself and other people better. Read more about being a better listener.
5. They think about their thinking
Self-aware people have a habit of thinking about their thinking. Through introspection and analysis, they get a better understanding of how they think and act in different situations.
They ask questions of themselves to get a better understanding of their motivations and their mindset. They also ask questions of other people to get a better understanding of how that person thinks and what’s important to them.
When you think about your thinking, you can identify improvements. This self-analysis can also help you make better decisions, improve how you spend your time and improve your relationships.
6. They know their own strengths
Self-aware people are honest about their strengths and weaknesses. They choose to focus on increasing their strengths, rather than trying to fix their weaknesses.
Self-aware people are not self-focused. They are more concerned with understanding how their strengths can be maximised to help other people.
Conclusion
Self-aware people understand that higher levels of personal growth and happiness requires self-awareness. Building self-awareness is a capability that can be developed through regular practice. Use these 5 habits to help you increase your own self-awareness.
Now I’d love to hear from you
What’s your number one tip for being self-aware?
Let me know in the comments.
About the Author
Mark Pettit is a time management coach and accountability coach based in Colchester, Essex, UK. He is the Founder of time management coaching company, Lucemi Consulting.
Mark provides time management coaching programs to entrepreneurs and small business owners. He works with clients in London, Essex, Suffolk, East Anglia and across the UK and US.
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