What benefits could we see from becoming more self-aware?

There are so many benefits to self-awareness in terms of managing our own wellbeing, living a life we love and learning to love ourselves. In being aware of our own needs, we have the opportunity to communicate and advocate for them. Or give them to ourselves if we are able to. Always moving more towards a sense of emotional balance and equilibrium. A sense of calm, having had our needs met.

Self-awareness means we get to know our true selves, outside of our societal and familial conditioning about what the world and significant others told us we should be. Moving towards recognising we are good enough at our core, just as we are. By always being in tune with our values and needs, there really is no other perfect life to lead. A life totally in alignment with our true self and purpose in life. Imagine spending every day knowing in each moment you were making the best, most authentic, most intuitive choice for you, what that would feel like? That is available to all of us, with self-awareness.

Also, there is nothing quite like being in the presence and energy space of someone who totally knows themselves. Someone who is assured in who they are and is confident enough to step into that and communicate their needs assertively and respectfully. Never underestimate the power that this has on positively impacting everyone around you.

Is there any way we can get this wrong?

Self-awareness has some great gifts to share with us. However, there are times when even I think that ignorance would be bliss! Sometimes we want to be able to switch off from understanding ourselves and our experience. To live what we believe might be a simpler life. This thinking is usually short-lived when we remember the downsides of being unaware of ourselves and our emotions.

It takes routine commitment to check in with yourself in order to continually understand your emotional landscape. This is not an I can do this for a few months and then I’m done-type technique. It is a lifestyle choice. A choice I believe has so many benefits that the time and commitment is worth it, but others may disagree. Sometimes, we can jump to trying to ‘fix’, ‘get over’, or ‘move through’ our feelings too soon. Grief, for example, is a complex process that involves a mixture of emotions all present for different reasons. When we allow ourselves to feel all of them, without trying to rush them, you will find you process grief much more effectively than you could ever anticipate. Yet, it is uncomfortable to sit in your pain and allow it to be there for as long as it needs to. Sometimes, the need to avoid the discomfort outweighs our motivation to process it as it is meant to be.

One Good Thing: how emotional self-awareness can be our personal superpower