Most of us do not know what our strengths and weaknesses are. We are hardly aware of our personality and things that hold value to us. Have you ever asked yourself this question: “Who am I?” The kind of answer will tell you how self aware you are. Many a times we are not aware as to why we feel a certain way, we find it difficult to say things about yourself. All this is because of lack of awareness.
Sometimes emotions become overwhelming and we do not know where our thought process is leading. To know all this it is important to first know yourself. And to know yourself one must be aware about oneself and this awareness is called self awareness.
Self awareness is the ability to know yourself through introspection and reflection. It is a process to recognize ones weaknesses, strengths, beliefs, thoughts and emotions so as to differentiate self from the environment and others around.
This awareness can be generated by the following:
- Observation: One of the best ways to be aware is through observing yourself. Focusing attention on our thought, actions, the way we react to a situation, the way we talk and the way we respond can tell us a lot about ourselves and our believes. It is important that we know what is happening with us to be able to work on it.
- Write a Journal: Self expression is a helpful tool to know yourself. Writing down our thought, our daily experience and how we felt about it can give a better insights about ourselves. This give us a wide range of emotions that have been experience over a period of time. Writing a journal can also be used as a medium to jot down the future plans and track the progress.
- Know your strengths and weakness: What are we good and what are we not is an important part of knowing ourselves. Reflecting over the past experiences and situations can give a broad idea about our strong and weak points. Proper knowledge can help showcase our positive points and work on the weaker side.
- Get true feedback: Our friends, family and loved ones are the people we can trust. Since they are close can guide us properly. Therefore to improve your self awareness a constant feedback is essential. People close to us are our honest mirrors and can help us improve. Asking them to pin point at our odd behaviors with examples can help you reflect better.
- Do psychometric test: Another way to get to know yourself better is through professional help. Tests like MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator) or 16 PF (16 Personality Factor Questionnaire), SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity and Threats) can be useful.
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About Author
Swekriti Bhatnagar is your special friend from Your D.O.S.T team. She is a Masters in Counseling Psychology from Christ University. She is experienced in dealing with adolescent and relationship related issues. She believes in the power of communication and that everyone has the ability to change. Through Your D.O.S.T she wants to help people vent out their worries and wishes to make a difference in the lives of people.