Leading Change Series: Self Awareness Can Be Elusive

Self Awareness Can Be Elusive.

“Today is not yesterday: we ourselves change; how can our works and thoughts, if they are always to be the fittest, continue always the same? Change, indeed is painful; yet ever needful; and if memory have its force and worth, so also has hope.” Thomas Carlyle

Self Awareness. How often do you think you see yourself as others see you? Do you over-rate or under-rate yourself, as a general rule?  This can be a result of humility or fudging; or hav­ing lost sight or energy about what has happened for you. It is, therefore, useful to understand that self awareness can be elusive and difficult to affirm. Our consciousness that we can really see ourselves – our emotional states, strengths and weaknesses (accurately or not) is because our normal psyche sometimes prohibits conscious realisation of information about ourselves. This can end up pro­tecting us or deluding us into building a self image (and in turn self efficacy) that, if accurate, is a huge step towards managing ourselves, but, if inaccurate, can be dysfunctional. Either way, self-image develops slowly. Four things (thoughts, perceptions, emotions and situation) intersect in our decisions about how we attend to, experience, infer or interpret events; thereby, adjusting our behaviour. Many factors come into play here, such as our values, beliefs, stage of life, social motives and the people we admire. To be effective in achieving change solutions, thoughts need to embrace behaviour and emotion. Talking to emotions is critical. If we don’t emotionally connect, relationship suffer. Being clear on who you are and want to be, is one of the most fulfilling and joyous outcomes of effective self actualisation; accessing your deeper emotions, thoughts and energy for change by sorting out cues and meaning from what is happening to you.