Picture credit - GreystoneGlobal
Day 7 - Self-Awareness Skill
What is Self-Awareness Skill?
Self-Awareness is the ability to see yourself clearly and objectively through reflection and introspection
How to improve Self-Awareness Skill?
Set a goal to become a go-to person by mastering the art and science of Self-Awareness Skill.
Follow the LAST model to build your personal brand as a Guru of Self-Awareness Skill.
- Learn - Invest time in learning different frameworks/ models/ techniques of Self-Awareness
- Apply -
- Identify a model suitable to you
- Create a template to document the flow of the process
- Find opportunities to use the selected method/ template
- Maintain record/ process flow of every important Self-Awareness activity you did
- Maintain notes of your thoughts/ insights/ failures/ challenges…. to be used for sharing/ training others
- Share - Share the insights captured in step 2 above in a planned manner (social media posts, blogs, videos, study notes…)
- Train - Generate opportunities to train your peers and team members so that, over time, your organization benefits from your efforts
My learning for the day
Author - Courtney Ackerman
Self-Awareness Theory is based on the idea that you are not your thoughts, but the entity observing your thoughts. Self-Awareness is comparing our feelings, responses, actions, performance... against our value system and taking action to close the gaps.
Self awareness in action - two stories
1. Bob at work - Bob struggles with creating a quarterly report at work. After being aware of his problem, he reflects on it and finds out that the activity of ‘writing it up cohesively and clearly’ is where the problem lies. He takes three steps - joins a course to improve his writing, finds a great colleague to get his work reviewed, creates a reusable template to reduce the writing part
2. Monique at home - Monique develops a feeling that she is being taken for granted by her spouse. She does self awareness reflection to find if she could be contributing to the problem. She finds out that she does not appreciate her spouse enough and does not notice some great things in him. This reflection helps Monique to take steps and change the negative feeling of being taken from granted.
Self discovery is an exciting journey and taking steps to make ourselves better after this discovery is a creative experience.
Cultivating self awareness
Practice meditation and mindfulness - this will help you be aware of your internal state
Practice Yoga - the stretching & bending involved in Yoga will teach you self-acceptance
Make time to reflect - go over your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to see where you met your standards, where you failed them, and where you could improve
Journaling - writing down your thoughts and feelings helps you to become more aware and intentional (this record will help you when you share your wins and failures of the journey)
Ask the people you love - some of what they say would be useful to you in your self awareness journey. There could be some blind spots that you would have missed during your reflections. Talking to someone will help to discover these blind spots
Are you ready for the journey? Bon voyage, Gute Reise!
Purpose of this document
I took a 66 day challenge to study Life Skills last year (10 April 2019). To my astonishment, I succeeded in studying for 66 days one skill a day.
My objectives of learning these skills were - To strengthen my mind to face life’s challenges with ease, To use these skills in my worklife for a better performance, To use these skills in my personal life for enriching my relationships, To open new possibilities to surprise myself.
This is my next 66 day challenge (from 10 April 2020) - To share my Life Skills learning with my social media friends.
I pray that my toil helps you in your success journey.
What are Life Skills?
UNICEF defines Life skills as - psychosocial abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. They are loosely grouped into three broad categories of skills
- cognitive skills for analyzing and using information,
- personal skills for developing personal agency and managing oneself,
- inter-personal skills for communicating and interacting effectively with others.
Which LifeSkills are covered?
The World Health Organisation identified these basic areas of life skills that are relevant across cultures:
- Decision-making
- Problem-solving
- Creative thinking
- Critical thinking
- Communication
- Interpersonal skills
- Self-awareness
- Empathy
- Coping with emotions
- Coping with stress.
Some trivia
‘Life skills’ was never part of the school curriculum. WHO/ UNESCO mandated academia to teach these skills in all schools across the globe in 1993.
Different countries educate their children in these skills with different objectives
- Zimbabwe and Thailand - prevention of HIV/AIDS
- Mexico - prevention of adolescent pregnancy
- United Kingdom - child abuse prevention
- USA - prevention of substance abuse and violence
- South Africa and Colombia - positive socialization of children.
128 words - 1 minute reading - Flesch–Kincaid readability score 70-60 - English
Self-Awareness is the ability to see yourself clearly and objectively through reflection and introspection
Self-awareness manifests in action through two stories:
Bob's Workplace Struggle: Identifying his challenge in creating quarterly reports, Bob takes proactive steps. He enrolls in a writing course, seeks feedback from a colleague, and develops a reusable template to enhance clarity and cohesion.
Monique's Personal Insight: Feeling undervalued by her spouse, Monique engages in self-reflection. She realizes her lack of appreciation and neglect of her spouse's positive attributes. This realization prompts her to change her perspective and nurture her relationship positively.
Embarking on self-discovery is a stimulating journey. Cultivate self-awareness through practices like meditation, yoga for self-acceptance, reflective time, and journaling. Additionally, seek input from loved ones to uncover blind spots and refine personal growth efforts. Such intentional steps foster creativity and personal development.
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