Understanding the promptings of your innermost heart
Self awareness is not about looking deeply within your internal chamber of secrets and trying to discover "your true self."
Rather, it is an open, honest, candid, and on-going self observation of what drives you to take the actions you take, to think the thoughts you think, and to feel the emotions that bubble up inside you.
People with high levels of self awareness have a clear and definite grasp of their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as an elevated sensitivity to observe what motivates, de-motivates, satisfies, delights, annoys, and angers them.
With a solid sense of self awareness you multiply your predisposition to go after the opportunities that are right for you -- by leveraging your strengths, values, and inner motivations. Likewise, you are also better positioned to minimize your chances of pursuing activities that are likely to have unsatisfying or potentially harmful results.
Here are some quotes from our book Project You: Words of Wisdom that might help you create such a solid sense of self awareness:
Knowing others is wisdom; knowing self is enlightenment. Tao Te Ching
Total, unconditional acceptance of yourself is the first step in building a positive self-image. Nido Qubein
Others can give you a name or a number, but they can never tell you who you really are. That is something you yourself can only discover from within. Thomas Menton, No Man an Island
Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. Aristotle
You are searching the world for treasure but the real treasure is yourself. Rumi
When you know yourself you are empowered. When you accept yourself you are invincible. Tina Lifford
Finally, as Robertson Davies, one of Canada's most distinguished men of letters, wrote, "A man must be obedient to the promptings of his innermost heart." The first step, of course, is to have a clear awareness of what reverberates in your innermost heart.
Likewise, as we quoted American actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein in the previous post Knowing Yourself / Defining Yourself, "accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself."
Doing both of these puts you squarely on the path to Living A Determined Life.
This article is partially excerpted from Project You: Words of Wisdom, available at Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats.
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