12 Awareness Tips for Success
Post content paraphrased from Entrepreneur.com
There is an old proverb that states if you have no enemy within then you can have no enemy without (something along those lines). How you respond to the world has to do with how you are functioning internally and the thought processes that come to fruition. Being self-aware can therefore be very beneficial because you are monitoring your internal which affects how you react to the external.
Here are 12 awareness tips for success, hope they are useful.
1. Meditation
Meditation is all about focusing on the moment and on your breathing. The more you practice this act the more you realize how our mind consistently attempts to wander, harnessing your mind to the moment can free up unwanted and unnecessary distractions.
2. The 3 Whys
The 3 whys is basically asking yourself (for example) “Why I want to do this?”. Then you follow that answer up with a second “Why” and then with a third “Why”. Doing this helps to solidify your reasons for partaking in any given action.
3. Ask for feedback regularly
It is always good to get outside opinions and advice from people you respect and from people that respect you. Keeping things to yourself can lead to one-dimensional thinking which can be flawed. Reach out to mentors and or people you respect that will tell you the truth and now what you want to hear.
4. Flex your emotional vocabulary skills
Many philosophers have said that ones world experience is limited by the breadth of ones vocabulary. It helps tremendously to be able to express yourself and articulate how you feel and to expand your expressions so that you expand your world experience. Being able to voice how you feel can be a huge stress reliever.
5. Reflect on your days
Keeping a journal or at least writing down events of the day and how you reacted to them can help your self-awareness and can keep you accountable for what is going on in your life. Writing can help focus your mind and reveal new insights that you wouldn’t have had if you hadn’t sat down and wrote out your experience.
6. Learn to say ‘no’
We are tempted and distracted everyday. Whether it be addictions, social media, aggravating people, the list goes on. We have the ability to say ‘no’ to these time-wasters. Practicing saying no is a great exercise because it frees up your valuable time and actually gets easier the more you practice it.
7. Know yourself
Being aware of your strengths and talents is huge. Knowing where you’re at can give you insight as to what you need to work on and what you need to harness and encourage in order to succeed at any given task.
8. Get off auto-pilot
A person who is not self-aware will respond to events impulsively and in a knee-jerk fashion. Reacting in such a way can be detrimental to ones success. Taking a breath and being aware can save you from being on auto-pilot and making a rash and unsuccessful decision. It helps to breath, assess, and then react if necessary.
9. Play devil’s advocate
It can be healthy to challenge your assumptions and your world view. We are not always right and it helps to catch when we are wrong and to challenge ourselves. Doing this is also helpful for the brain.
10. Be accountable
Self-awareness can help us recognize our flaws and to hold ourselves accountable when necessary. It is easy to blame others but this is not successful thinking. Instead of making excuses acknowledge your mistakes or limitations and work on improving them, that is being accountable.
11. Improve your body language
Most people don’t like to view themselves on video but doing so can make one aware of where they could improve and will ultimately improve their confidence level. Slouching or ‘low-power-poses’ actually promotes cortisol (stress hormone) and feeds low self-esteem. ‘High-power poses’ (standing tall and confident) promotes testosterone and improves performance. Also using your hands effectively while speaking can improve how well you are perceived and received from others.
12. Be aware of how you talk to yourself
Negative self-talk can spiral us into stress and depression. Being aware of how you are responding to your successes and failures is super important in keep you healthy and successful. Be compassionate with yourself and tough as well when needed, but be sure it is reasonable and balanced. Celebrate your wins, forgive your losses.
