2023-05-05 19:37:52
There are several tools to promote self-knowledge. However, the most important thing is that the urge to explore oneself is deep.
Why is it worth promoting self-awareness? This is perhaps the first question that comes to mind when discussing this topic.
The truth is that promoting self-knowledge is a factor that helps to live better. If a person knows who they are and what they want, they can focus their efforts more effectively.
This factor affects all aspects of life. Improved self-knowledge enriches existence in several ways. It is also an essential starting point for growth and evolution. How to get to know each other?
What is self-knowledge?
Self-knowledge is knowing who you are. Said like that, it seems simple, but at the same time, it’s abstract.
More concretely, one could say that self-knowledge consists of the ability to identify our mental states, our psychological processes, our preferences and our dispositions. It is also the ability to become aware of what is happening in our inner world.
Through self-knowledge, we can detect changes that occur within ourselves, as well as moods, contradictions with the environment, and discomfort. We can also predict how we will act in certain circumstances.
The importance of self-awareness
Human beings are good at making mistakes. There are cognitive biases or thought distortions that prompt us to do this. Similarly, repressed feelings or undeveloped experiences cause us to see ourselves in distorted ways.
Self-knowledge is a process that never ends, because we change with time and the experiences we live. This is why it is a continuous exercise, which never gives definitive conclusions.
In any case, knowing yourself brings clarity to act more precisely in all areas. It helps to set realistic and achievable goals, as well as to regulate emotions and seek out or reject what satisfies or annoys us.
When a person does not know themselves well enough, the following problems usually arise:
- Personal insecurity: the person is dependent on external approval or disapproval.
- Development stagnation: if a person is not aware of their own potential and weaknesses, they do not know where to direct their efforts to grow.
- Inappropriate automatic behaviors: the behaviors are repeated unconsciously, without knowing why.
- Bad decisions: the person is more likely to put themselves in awkward situations.
- Waste of energy and resources: the person spends a lot of time, energy and resources doing things that don’t really interest them.
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Strategies to improve self-knowledge
At this point, it should be noted that self-knowledge is a process and not a one-time achievement. We all know ourselves to some degree, but if steps are taken to improve self-knowledge, it is possible to reach a deeper and more decisive level. How to do it ? The following strategies can help you.
1. Write a diary
The personal diary continues to be a classic tool for improving self-knowledge. This tool allows you to reflect on the events of the day, but especially on the actions and feelings involved.
Likewise, it promotes greater order in emotions and ideas. By browsing it, you discover many things that may go unnoticed at first glance.
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2. Do the wheel of life
The wheel of life is another such useful tool for improving self-knowledge. All you have to do is make a circle and divide it into areas that make up your own existence: friendships, partner, work, finances, etc. Then identify those in which you want to improve, numbering them in order of priority.
3. Explore your perceptions
This strategy involves asking other people to describe you. The key is to listen with an open mind and catch the recurring patterns.
There are characteristics of self that we are unaware of and that others see. Likewise, there are areas of our personality that we manifest in the wrong way.
4. Make the lifeline
It’s about making a timeline. This is a horizontal line on which milestones are marked with dates. These milestones represent the most relevant lived events. Everything ends in the present. Doing this exercise allows you to schematically represent your past.
5. Build Emotional Vocabulary
It is important to learn to identify emotions as accurately as possible. Sometimes we are not sad, but discouraged or nostalgic.
The greater the ability to verbalize what one feels, the higher the level of self-awareness will increase. For this, it is necessary to expand the emotional vocabulary.
6. Reconnect with the body
Body and mind have a very close connection. What happens in one of these dimensions affects the other.
It is very useful to learn to read the signals that the body provides. There are unconscious emotions which, for this very reason, go unnoticed.
7. Identify emotional triggers
Joy, sadness or anger do not arise without reason. There are factors that activate them and learning to recognize them helps a lot in improving self-awareness. When you experience these emotions, it is important to identify what was the situation, the word or the fact that activated them.
8. Acknowledge your reactions
Emotions also translate into behaviors. The question here is how a person reacts to joy, sadness or anger.
By answering this question, it is possible to establish the link between emotion and behavior. This leads to knowing yourself better and being able to anticipate your future reactions.
9. Observe the effect of your emotions on others
This is a crucial aspect and it is about observing the effect that our emotions have on others. Is there a change in others when we are angry, tired, uncomfortable, or distant?
Make the decision to know yourself
The human mind is complex and although knowing oneself is the goal of many, there are also many who resist it. Indeed, some create a fanciful image of themselves and do not want anyone or anything to remove that mask.
This is especially the case with unresolved issues. This process can be painful, as it can lead to uncomfortable questions. In these cases, the ideal is to follow a psychotherapy.
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