Have you ever felt like some people just lack any self-awareness? Years ago, this was me. Looking back, there were many areas in which I lacked self-awareness that kept me stuck trying to please every different group I was a part of. It’s been said that if we’re not self-aware, we’ll have the tendency to role-play through life; basically, we’ll be different people to different groups because of our lack of authenticity.
Do you feel like you’re one person in front of your family and then someone else in front of your friends, or coworkers, or spouse, or in any other setting? If so, it’s possible you’re more concerned about people-pleasing than you are with being true to yourself. The question to ask, then, is do you even know who you are?
The Law of Self-Awareness states that in order to grow yourself, you first have to know yourself. If you’re unsure of who your authentic self really is, then these 4 tips will help you develop the self-awareness you need to face the world with confidence:
- Find a passion and a purpose. Typically, our passion often comes from things that keep us awake at night or the obstacles we’ve overcome. Pursuing a passion can lead us to find our purpose in life. If you’re unsure about what your passion is, good questions to ask yourself would be, “For what or for whom does my heartache?” and “How would I like to make a difference in the world?”
- Understand your strengths and weaknesses. Nothing is worse than having a leader that thinks they’re great at everything. Therefore, being self-aware includes knowing your weak points. Having weaknesses doesn’t mean we are unable to learn and implement new skills, but we should have an awareness of areas that we could improve. Knowing that we struggle with certain skills can also strengthen our leadership because we can invite others with the expertise to step up and step into these spaces for us, covering the areas in which we are lacking. Personally, I’ve enlisted others to help me in areas where my skills were sub-par and it made a tremendous difference in my life!
- Stand for your core values. When we are unsure of what we stand for in life, we’ll fall victim to fear. For instance, without knowing what I truly cared about, I couldn’t set the proper boundaries around my life which ultimately led me to bend every which way for others, whether or not I liked or believed in their mission. It didn’t make me feel good, but rather than tell anyone “no,” I ended up forfeiting my personal power in order to appease theirs. Having solid core values that you truly believe in will help you to take that power back. Some great questions to ask yourself would be, “What do I stand for?” and “What are my non-negotiables in life?” Examples of a non-negotiable could be that you never bring work home with you, that you never say “yes” to plans you’re hesitant about, or that you always go to the gym immediately after work.
- Know your worth. For a long time, I was allowing others to dictate my worth to me, causing me to live a life where I believed that success and praise from others were what made me valuable. Eventually, I learned that my worth couldn’t come from others; it had to come from God. God sent His son to die on the cross for me, blessing me with a brighter future, a greater hope, and a better plan for my life than I had for myself. Knowing this added tremendous value to my existence and it’s why I’m able to do what I’m doing today. A good question to ask yourself is “Where do I find my worth?”
The key to developing better self-awareness is finding a passion, understanding your strengths and weaknesses, standing for your core values, and knowing your worth. Once you know who you are at your very core, you can start to make decisions that will lead you to your greater purpose. A great resource that I still use in my organization to this day is the DISC method. Up until learning about the DISC method, I used to think everyone communicated, behaved, and acted pretty much the same way. This absolutely isn’t the case which is why taking a DISC behavioral assessment is beneficial to understanding others as well as yourself! If you’re interested in understanding yourself on a deeper level, head over to MaryGuirovich.com/DISC and take the free assessment today!
