How To Increase Your Self Awareness As An Adult

Disclaimer: I am by no means on top of anything written here. I write, more often than not, to remind myself of things that matter to me/ help me be who I am. Sharing them with you is a step that doesn’t take much from me and if it helps you, I couldn’t be happier.

Being conscious about our abilities, emotions and actions in alignment with our standards is a tricky thing.

It's important to raise these standards over time. Why? As humans we're creatures of habit which means we can stick to them or improve upon them. To realise these standards we need to know who we are, why we do what we do and how we can move on from there.

“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” ― C.G. Jung

In order to create this sense of awareness there are few things that can help us

1. Comparison Is Moot

Comparison with others is the biggest demotivator of all the progress we make.

If you truly want to compare, see how far you've come in life. If you haven't, that's okay too. Realisation is a great start. The only people we need to compare ourselves with is, well, ourselves.

The next time you have an urge to compare yourself, remember, we're all different and unique in our own ways.

2. View Yourself Objectively

To be self aware, reducing bias is key.

If you look back on your actions, viewing them objectively helps call out the bs.

What should I really have done in this situation? is a great question to answer. Please don't be hard on yourself in this process. It's a learning and always will be.

3. Accept, Then Try To Understand

Acceptance of any situation is key.

Things that aren't in our control aren't worth fretting over. It took me a while to internalize this lesson as we tend to be reactive. I still need reminders from the kind people that surround me and that's okay.

4. Don't Aim To Please

As humans, we love validation.

We want to be heard, accepted and validated. Sometimes our actions are governed by external motives. When they don't work, we tend to be disappointed.

It's easier to do things that matter to you. If anyone's worth pleasing it's you.

5. Keep Learning

Read, listen and converse. Then apply. Nothing else to add here 😄

I hope that these things, though obvious in hindsight help your achieve your internal standards.

I wish you well