5 Simple Strategies For Building Your Self Awareness

Do you ever feel like you are just going through life on autopilot? You find yourself in situations asking yourself: how did I even get here? You’re on a night out that you had absolutely no intentions of going on wishing you were at home in comfy pjs. 

That’s how I went through life for years! I had no awareness of who I was or what I wanted from life so I just ‘went with the flow’ and hoped for the best! I’m sure you can imagine how well that worked out for me *massive eyeroll! You see, when we have no sense of who we are or what we want from life we end up just going through the motions! This leaves us feeling exhausted, frustrated and resentful! We end up living life through our subconscious (autopilot) mind, and as they say: the mind is a terrible master but a brilliant servant!  

So, how do we break free from living on autopilot and start living with intention? The best way to do that is by building our self-awareness. We can’t change what we’re not aware of, so the first step to changing anything is by building our self-awareness.

Self-awareness is taking the time to figure out who we really are. What are your likes, dislikes, values, goals, what makes you tick? It is paying more attention to what’s going on inside than what’s going on outside of us. It is becoming aware of our thoughts, feelings, fears and emotions. The more aware of yourself that you become, the more empowered you will feel to steer your life in the direction you want it to go, rather than feeling like you are just drifting at sea.

Ok, so how to become more self-aware:

1. Where your attention goes, energy flows

Start directing your focus inwards throughout the day – what gives you energy and what drains your energy? Tap into that inner GPS throughout the day, it is constantly sending you signals – if you pay attention. I’ve learnt that watching tv and scrolling on social media completely drains my energy while reading and learning actually gives me energy. I’ve used that inner feedback to become more self-aware of how I spend my days during lockdown. 

2. Life without a vision leads to us to just going around in circles

Create a vision for your life. Reflect on the big questions, what do I want from life? Where do I see myself this time next year, in 5 years, in 10 years? Become self-aware of your interests and your passions. If you don’t have a plan for your life, I guarantee you somebody else does! 

3. Making the unconscious conscious through journaling

Spend time reflecting at the end of the day and ask yourself: what went well today? How could I make tomorrow even better? What did I learn about myself and others today? This way you are constantly building data that informs what really matters to you and what doesn’t. I’ve found this powerful for living a more meaningful life. 

4. Taking stock regularly (and not just once a year!) 

I’ve been doing monthly reviews for years and they are so powerful! It’s like an extended version of your evening reviews. At the end of every month take a birds-eye view of your life, stepping out of the moment and looking at the bigger picture. Look at what areas of your life are going well and what are the areas that are not going so well. Are you moving closer or further away from your goals and that vision that you’ve created for yourself? This exercise helps to create more balance and guides us to self-improve our lives.

5. Learning to look at (and love) your flaws

Self-awareness does not just mean loving all the amazing, fabulous parts of you (even though there are many of those). It also means identifying and accepting our flaws, aka -the parts of us that make us human! We are all imperfectly perfect and not being aware of our flaws really holds us back in life. I used to be so defensive and always had to be right in an argument. I was more interested in defending my own self-image of what a good person I was than listening to what the other person had to say. This really held me back on my personal growth journey. Don’t make the same mistake I did! Get to know the parts of you that you usually deny when others confront you with them. Identify your biggest weaknesses. Start embracing all the parts of you that make you who you are! 

Finally, remember that self-awareness is not an excuse for self judgement. It is not an excuse for over-thinking who you are and everything that you do and say. It is about becoming clearer on who you really are and living your life more intentionally and authentically. Living life from the truest version of yourself, and not the social self that you want others to believe is the real you! Building self-awareness and living more authentically will completely change your life.

Enjoy getting to know yourself and building your self-awareness. From that strong foundation of personal power, you will enjoy more inner peace, fulfillment and flow in your life!