16 Jun Building Self Awareness
“To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.” – Socrates
Great athletes watch film after games to review what they did well & where they have room to improve.
It’s by watching film, making notes, & then applying that new knowledge that they’re able to improve throughout a season & career.
Winners in life do the same thing.
They create space to reflect on what they do well & where they have room for improvement.
Write it down.
One of the best ways to improve your self-awareness is to spend 10 minutes each night reflecting back on the day you just finished.
Write down what you did well, what went smoothly, and what one experience that if you had the chance, would want a “do over” because you could have performed better.
Conversation with a spouse. Effort during a workout. Conflict with a coworker.
Identify one instance during the day that you know you could handle better and write it down.
Then write down how you would ideally perform if in that situation again.
The practice of writing it down helps you better identify a struggle or blind spot, as well as more firmly put into the forefront of your thoughts how you would like to behave the next time you’re in that same position.
Most of us try to make a mental note and most likely we forget because we have a million things racing through our minds every day.
Writing it down makes it easier to remember, which gives us a better chance to recall it when in the same position in the future.
A record you’ll need.
Writing it down also gives us a record to look back on each month.
Do we keep making the same mistake or have we applied what we pointed out to ourselves?
Making time each month to review our “growth opportunities” gives us the reflection to identify trends that we can further invest time to build or break.
Without the time to review and the written record, we might find ourselves stuck on a hamster wheel of continuously making the same mistake despite an inner desire to change.
Still stuck?
Get outside help. Hire a coach. Have some honest conversations with a friend. Make a financial or emotional investment to work with a third party who can ask the tough questions, call you on your excuses, and help you cut down on your blind spots so you can be more effective in your pursuits.
Sometimes we need an outside perspective to help us see what we can’t on our own.
The better we know ourselves, the better likelihood we have to succeed in our pursuits.
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