5 Ways to Improve Self-Awareness

Dealing with Change

The shock left me with the need to prove myself. You get the jolt of feeling like you’ve personally been attacked, but in reality, they are reacting from their needs, so use it as a sign, and move on. 

But what the shock didn’t make me do, and have shifted this process for myself was to look deeper at my emotions or the fact that my mindset was creating more stress for my life. 

I got another job in a month and it was fine for a while. It gave me everything that I needed to create consistency and organisation in my business, and this allowed me to have the time and focus because of the time I got back from not commuting, or having to be social. 

Your Body Remembers

But a few months into working on my business and this new job, I didn’t realise that I was still holding on to that stress that I had experienced in my last role. Your body remembers, your mind remembers and holds onto it for much longer than you realise. 

This is something that you only know how to work on by becoming more self-aware.

Focusing On the Real You

Being self-aware is all about focusing more on the real you. 

Often the version of you that you show to the world is different to the one going on in your mind. 

Sometimes it takes someone else saying something to you that you disagree with about yourself, to wake you up. 

You see, when you feel the world is against you, it’s not. This is your victim mode in control. To become more aware of your victim mode, notice the number of times you wish someone would come to save you from your tower of pity.

To get yourself out of victim mode, you need to realise you are not the main character in everyone else’s world but you are in yours. 

Which is where you need to think from. If you are the villain then you also have the capability of being the superhero too. If you are the underdog, then you are the winner too. 

You have both capabilities within you. But you need to pick which belief system you want to live in. 

To find out which camp you are in, you need to become more self-aware, and these 5 ways to improve self-awareness can help you do that. 

Self-awareness is key to learning more about how you truly show up in this world, however in the coaching world, it is key to recognising your limiting beliefs, and emotional triggers that may be diverting your journey to success. 

5 Ways to Improve Self-Awareness

1. Get feedback

One task I have done several times, including during the last session of my coaching training, was to request 360 feedback from your peers. 

This is basically asking those you trust around you to tell you how they think and feel about you. See what others think your strengths are and what your weaknesses are. What they admire about you and where they think you self sabotage. 

2. Journal. 

This tool is going to be on every list, so it obviously needs to be one of my 5 ways to improve self-awareness. 

Journaling is a really powerful tool if you let it be. 

It’s about starting to write, free flow, with no direction or requirements. This helps you to see what is going on with your mind, where those thoughts came from and what emotions they bring up within you. 

This technique can highlight to you what you are walking around within your mind. If you are quick to anger, this is a great tool to find out who and what is triggering your anger. If you are shy and reserved, this is a tool to find out what is holding you back and where you may be overthinking. 

3. Pay attention to your thoughts.

This can be massively supported by using habit and emotional trackers. I have one on my meditation app, but if you are a pen and paper person, use that too. 

But seeing where you are your happiest, and when you are your least energetic, you soon realise the people who lift you up and the places that bring you down. 

This will help you realise when you are going to not feel so good, prepare yourself for it, and when you need to remember to hold onto uplifting conversations. 

I quickly realised the people who make me reflect on my emotions who I have deep conversations with and who I do not. 

It made it easier to keep in touch with the ones who have a positive impact on my life and maybe see the others a lot less. 

4. Meditation is huge when it comes to self-awareness. 

When you get to a place of calm and peace (this doesn’t have to be every time you meditate) you will start to notice the things that distract you the most, and take you away from your peace. 

Once you learn the things that distract you the most, you understand how to structure your day, so you achieve those things first. As those are the ones that will make the most impact on your day.

5. Be more intentional with your feelings. 

You can intentionally be happy, optimistic, caring and equally, draining, stressful, or threatening. Know what you want to show up as and be known for. 

This action will help you connect to your higher self, the one who you are striving to be. 

My suggestion would be, whilst you are making your to-do list for the day, also create a to be a list of how you want to feel, think or show up. If you are struggling with this one, think about people you admire, and what it is about them that you admire, and think about how you imagine them to show up in different scenarios in your life. 

These 5 ways to improve self-awareness can really help you learn about yourself. More often than not, people view you a little nicer than you view yourself. This can be a welcoming surprise, but also not that if you did not realise that is how people view you, then this is something you can start to own as a skill, or a trait.

Self-awareness can also show you what you are more drawn to, and allow you to connect with activities that really light you up, which will lead to an all-around happier life. 

I hope that these 5 ways to improve self-awareness were helpful for you. If you want to hear more about how you are able to show up as your best self, then book a call with me now. 

Arisha.