Why awareness is important

And the world must be easy. Self-improvement is impossible without self-awareness. Self-awareness sometimes referred to as self-knowledge or introspection is about understanding your own needs, desires, limitations, habits and everything else that makes you tick.

The reasons for this disconnect are that we naturally have blind spots and tend to operate on autopilot. We are also happier when we see ourselves in a more positive light and we have maybe as a society become more self-absorbed and less self-aware as social media has exploded in popularity. Lack of self-awareness is a barrier to realising your potential. So are irrational or unhelpful beliefs.

We all hold beliefs about ourselves and the way the world works and some of these are downright wrong. These beliefs are programmed throughout our childhoods, built on during adulthood and sit in our subconscious mind most of the time, quietly filtering through all of the information that is bombarding our brain on a daily basis.

Some information just flows through as it reinforces and complements our existing beliefs and schema. Awareness develops knowledge of you; what your strengths and weaknesses are as a player, coach, as a person and what motivates and drives you. It will allow you to focus on your strengths and develop strategies to improve your weaknesses.

The Environment. There will slight differences you need to be aware in different leagues, sports that will give you the knowledge to be successful. So ask yourself what are the important things to focus on? Are there any relationships that need to be developed?

The Enemy. Not literally but you need to know the strengths and weaknesses of other players in your position, other teams in your league and your main competitors. How does your team compare to other teams? What makes you and your team unique that allows it to achieve and be successful? Football managers like Jose Mourinho produce extensive dossiers on everything opponent so that they are aware on everything about their opponents so they can plan effectively.

They are aware! This awareness and knowledge will drive your planning and return maximise productivity by employing next action thinking. Awareness is one of the most important qualities you can have. Open up your senses and become a sponge, soaking up all the information you can.

A high-paying job might seem more desirable. It might seem like what society wants Cupcake to prioritize in his life. His family is more important to him than making the extra income. Once you figure out what it is — which could take time — be like Cupcake and try to make the necessary changes to live life the way you want to. People who are more self-aware are also typically more emotionally intelligent. Being more self-aware allows you to be more aware of your emotions, allowing you to better regulate those emotions.

You would know what you are feeling when you are feeling it, and what caused you to feel that way. You will be able to identify your emotions and find a way to appease them before reacting to them. And being more familiar with your emotions helps you learn about your thinking patterns. You will notice why you have developed certain thinking patterns and decide whether or not they should change.

And better emotion regulation leads to clearer thinking, better decision-making, and overall more self-control. So in the end, higher self-awareness results in higher self-regulation. Having a clearer sense of what you believe and what you want makes it easier to effectively communicate in different aspects of your life. Learning how others make you feel also lets you in on how you make others feel. You will realize how your presence, actions, and words affect other people.

This will prompt you on how to act and speak accordingly in social situations. You would know to look back at how you behaved that might have led to that outcome.

Being more self-aware allows you to see things from the perspective of others. You will be able to notice how your words and actions can affect other people and whether your behavior is pushing people away. As you become more aware of yourself, you also become more aware of others. Self-awareness allows you to become a better observer of yourself, as well as a better observer and listener for others. When you can detect and understand how other people see you, you will be able to create stronger and more authentic relationships.

Self-awareness is correlated with higher levels of overall happiness. Being more self-aware means you are more mindful of your decisions, thoughts, and actions.