5 Valuable Benefits of Self-Awareness

True self-awareness is a rare quality and is like a missing piece in a puzzle to have everything fit together perfectly. Here’s a story that perfectly illustrates the value of self-awareness.

When a pregnant lion dies soon after giving birth, the young cub blends in with the herd of sheep. One fine day an older lion from a distant jungle attacks the sheep and notices a young lion running alongside them.

The older lion leads the cub to a nearby river and instructs him to check his reflection. The young lion lets out a mighty roar upon realizing he is a mighty lion and not a sheep. The older lion metaphor in this story is self-awareness.

What is self-awareness

Being self-aware means being aware of your thoughts, emotions, and actions. Self-awareness is necessary for your relationships, work, and studies because you can align your skills with your goals, values, and passions when you know what they are.

According to research, when we clearly understand ourselves, we become more confident, build strong relationships, communicate more effectively, and become more influential leaders and satisfied employees. On the contrary, we will be less likely to cheat, lie, or steal.

There are two kinds of self-awareness.

According to the Harvard Business Review, there are two types of self-awareness: internal and external self-awareness.

We perceive ourselves based on our inner self-awareness. It reveals our flaws, core values, strengths, priorities, desires, and passion.

On the other hand, external self-awareness concerns awareness of how others perceive–––our values, interests, goals, strengths, and weaknesses.

Benefits of self-awareness

Self awareness gives you a wholesome life. Listed below are some benefits of self awareness

#1. Personal growth

Consider the case where you are improving an existing product. The first thing you’d do is learn about the product, how it works, what’s great about it, why people like it, and where it can be improved.

Similarly, if you want to make changes and develop yourself, you must have a clear vision of your weaknesses, strengths, habits that keep you stuck in lousy decision cycles, and what truly motivates or drives you.

Thus having a clear vision allows you to identify the true underlying causes of your strengths and weaknesses and make the necessary changes to live a more fulfilling life.

#2. Better emotional regulation and self-control

Self-regulation involves controlling one’s behavior, thoughts, and emotions to pursue long-term goals. It reflects the ability to face emotional threats with thoughtfulness and patience and not act erratically or impatiently.

Adults who lack self-regulation skills lack confidence and self-esteem, and they may express their feelings through anger or anxiety.

When you are self-aware of your positive and negative traits, you can see why you have developed specific thought patterns and decide whether or not to change them. Improved emotional regulation promotes clear thinking, better decision-making, and overall self-control.

#3. Enhanced social skills

Empathy for others, improved listening skills, improved thinking skills, decision-making, and improved leadership qualities are all examples of social skills.

*  Empathy

Empathy is one of the essential advantages of self-awareness. When you can be compassionate, you can build better relationships and make people feel valued.

*  Improved listening abilities

Listening can also be an effective management tool. Active listening skills assist you in making a favorable impression on others. Others feel cared for when you listen to them.

*  Improved critical thinking abilities.

To become self-aware, one must honestly consider and reflect on his actions. It entails analyzing and distancing yourself from your emotions to create an objective picture. All of these exercises will help you improve your critical thinking abilities.

*  Leadership abilities

To be a leader, one must have strong critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. When a person is self-aware of all of his skills, he naturally develops all of them, preparing him for higher-level leadership positions.

#4. Better working relationships

Humans are social creatures, and since we spend one-third of our lives at work, having good relationships with our coworkers will make our jobs more enjoyable.

We will have more freedom to express ourselves, create, and innovate when we have a good relationship. Rather than focusing time and energy on negative relationships, a person can focus on opportunities, win new business, and improve personal and professional growth.

Self-awareness is one aspect of defining a good relationship. It assists you in accepting responsibility for your actions and words and prevents your negative emotions from affecting those around you.

Before reacting, you can usually identify your feelings and find a way to appease them. You will be able to notice how your words and actions affect other people and whether your behavior is pushing people away.

If you are self-aware of your positive and negative qualities and see things through the eyes of others, You can build stronger and more authentic relationships.

#5. Happier life

Happiness is an emotional state marked by fulfillment, satisfaction, joy, positive emotions, and a sense of pride in life.

Examples of happy signs include

  • Feelings that you are living the life you desired
  • You are satisfied with your life
  • Feel more positive than negative
  • Feeling that you have attained or will achieve what you want in life
  • Your life is in good shape.

Being self-aware means being aware of your own decisions, thoughts, and actions. Your clear thinking, improved communication, improved emotional regulation, ability to form meaningful relationships and awareness of yourself and your life can help you find a more meaningful and fulfilling life.

How can we know that we need to be happy if we don’t understand ourselves?

The following are some specific aspects of self-awareness that are required for happiness.

  • Self-awareness of what brings you joy and meaning
  • Self-awareness of flaws
  • Being conscious of your own behavior and patterns
  • Aware of your impact on others
  • Aware of how you narrate your life
  • Aware of your success standards
  • Self-aware of your own development
  • Self-aware of your perception of happiness

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