Know Yourself: Why You Need Self-Awareness To Succeed

Perspective is personal. It derives from the endless encounters we face overtime. There, stored in our subconscious, shaping the way we interpret and the way we react, is a safe haven our morals and beliefs can always resort to.
As reliable as our frame of references may be, they also pose a serious threat to our personal growth. Such is the case, especially with young adults and millennials.
The second we’re exposed to the opportunity of being responsible for ourselves, our dependency in what we know becomes blinding.
What we learned growing up becomes rules we live by, and without a constant revision of those rules, we place ourselves at risk of becoming closed minded.
Don’t get me wrong, relying on instincts isn’t wrong, but we’re susceptible to our own perspectives. We are creatures of habit, and in result it’s easy to become routine in practices that have worked for us, regardless if there are better practices out there.
Without a constant check, if we’re not intentional about challenging what we think we know, we become one-track minded.
That is why self-awareness is so extremely pivotal. It’s difficult to detach yourself and really evaluate who you are when you’re only perspective is your own.
We should not only be cognizant of the importance of self-awareness, but how to be self-aware, what it looks like, and how it can affect your success.

How To Be Self Aware

Without an oil change your car will fall apart, as is the same for any other appliance of value. Maintenance is evidenced in various facets of our everyday life, so why do we not apply that practice to ourselves?
Much like a home, there should be periodic maintenance of self.  We should always be personally striving towards something – a career, a weight goal, or change in scenery, perhaps. And being intentional about maintaining those goals as priority goes along way.
Being self-aware can be as simple as setting weekly benchmarks for yourself, monthlong, yearlong, or daylong evaluations. Introspection is often lost and discouraged in the male community, but is a key component to maintaining focus of priorities.
Admitting you’re wrong, admitting room for improvement, and journaling is thought of as weak or”female traits,” but are all checks that maintain a self-awareness that keeps you headed in the right direction.

When You Are Not Self Aware

Everyday I see people who swear by the way they do life. The alleged “success” stories of others, while seeming impressive, can convolute the perspective of where you really are if not analyzed thoughtfully.
Lack of self-awareness leads to a closed-off world that feeds nothing but the ego. Whenever you see someone who needs a dose of reality, you’re witnessing an individual who is out of touch with reality.
It’s easy to spot someone who is living in their own fantasyland.
They’re the type of person that hates hearing any criticism, the type who let their ‘yes men’ lie them into a coma so deep, that any input, regardless of if it’s coming from a good place, is taken as offense.
Being self-aware is nothing more than acknowledging your need for supervision.
To think that high levels of government have oversight and factions in place to ensure efficiency, yet people don’t believe they themselves need some sort of periodic self check-up is foolish.
Being self-aware is making sure you’re on the right course, which is crucial to success.

Self-awareness and Your Success.

You don’t want to miss out on the dreams you have for yourself because of your disillusionment.
You can have all the talent in the world, be smarter than all your peers, have security in your bank account, but if you’re going backwards thinking you’re going forward, all of that potential will be squandered.
Self-awareness saves you from yourself. There are responsibilities and demands that come before achieving your dreams. Although we may be aware of these responsibilities, we are often unaware of our execution of them.
There are kids with NBA talent who never made it because in their head they were too good to hit the gym a 5 am. There are students struggling in college because they’re just positive they don’t need tutoring.
It is humbling and daunting at times, but looking yourself in the mirror and calling yourself out is flat out critical.
Coming to terms with your mortality is a part of maturity. We’re going to fail, it’s human error. That is why having friends who are not afraid to check you and saying no to the ‘yes-men’ in your life allows you to always be aware of your flaws.
Do not be the individual who is so lost in themselves that they are unable to see what kind of imprint they are leaving in the lives of others. When you are self-aware you keep yourself on track, and in the long-run it’s more than worth it.