Self Awareness Results and Returning from Vacation
Self Awareness Results
What is self awareness?
A Psychological state where oneself becomes the focus of attention. It is the ability to identify and understand their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Basically it is when you start paying attention and becoming aware of what you are doing. The first component of one’s self concept. Simply put:
“Woven into the fabric of who you are and it emerges at different points depending on the situation and your personality.”
Now it may sound simple, but… this shit is not easy. In fact, most of us lack self awareness. Mostly because it is hard for humans to be self aware. Our brain functions are out of date and survival functions are rooted in ancient times. This leads to being caught up in defensive emotions and biases that prevent self awareness. We actually think we are self aware.. But in reality only 10-15% of people truly are.
Why is self awareness important?
When you have self awareness, you start to reap certain benefits:
- Give you a better understanding of what you want and/or need
- Increase your chances of getting what you want and/or need
- Improve your decision making
- Help you manage your emotions
- Lead to healthier reactions to external factors
- Boost your productivity and success
- Enhance your ability to make positive change
- Bolster your self-esteem
- Strengthen your relationships
- Allows you to understand what you can control, and can’t.
But.. there is a secret element: vulnerability. It is important to remember that being vulnerable is not being weak, exclusive or dark. It can help you uncover what you are looking for. Be honest when looking for how self aware you are.
4 Proven Benefits of Self-Awareness
Many benefits to practicing self-awareness:
- It can make us more proactive, boost our acceptance, and encourage positive self-development (Sutton, 2016).
- Self-awareness allows us to see things from the perspective of others, practice self-control, work creatively and productively, and experience pride in ourselves and our work as well as general self-esteem (Silvia & O’Brien, 2004).
- It leads to better decision making (Ridley, Schutz, Glanz, & Weinstein, 1992).
- It can make us better at our jobs, better communicators in the workplace, and enhance our self-confidence and job-related wellbeing (Sutton, Williams, & Allinson, 2015).
Not an exhaustive list.
Self-awareness has the potential to enhance virtually every experience you have, as it’s a tool and a practice that can be used anywhere, anytime, to ground yourself in the moment, realistically evaluate yourself and the situation, and help you make good choices.
Cultivate
1. Practice mindfulness and meditation – helps you gain greater awareness of your emotions
Mindfulness is when you are present in the moment and paying attention to yourself and your surroundings. Similarly, meditation is the practice of focusing your attention on one thing (breath, mantra) while the rest drifts away. Both lead to awareness of your internal state and your reactions to things. Mindfulness and meditation can help identify your thoughts and feelings and keep from getting so caught up in them that you lose your hold on yourself. Doing so can help lead you to decisions despite us being told to shut off our feelings and rely solely on rational thoughts – this could leave us to live up to another’s ideas. Our feelings are our internal advocates.
2. Practice yoga
Again, yoga is a physical practice, but it’s just as much a mental practice. Body is stretching and bending and flexing, your mind is learning discipline, self-acceptance, and awareness. You become more aware of your body and all the feelings that manifest, and you become more aware of your mind and the thoughts that crop up.
3. Make time to reflect – this can help you keep track of your feelings
Reflecting can be done in multiple ways. The important thing is to go over your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to see where you met your standards, where you failed them, and where you could improve. Reflect on your standards themselves to see if they are good ones for you to hold yourself to. You can try writing in a journal, talking out loud, or simply sitting quietly and thinking, whatever helps you to reflect on yourself. You will begin to notice patterns and trends. It will help you define your purpose, values, motivations and anything that might be holding you back. Next you can try to start tracking your energy, you can then identify your peak performance period. This will show you what motivates you and what drains you.
4. Journal
The benefit of journaling is that it allows: Identifying, clarifying, and accepting your thoughts and feelings. It helps you discover what you want, what you value, and what works for you. It can also help you find out what you don’t want, what is not important to you, and what doesn’t work for you. Both are equally important to learn. Whether you like to write free-flowing entries, bulleted lists, or poems, writing down your thoughts and feelings helps you to become more aware and intentional.
5. Ask the people you love
But first… a warning. Do not ask the people in your life who you know are toxic or harmful. Other than that… feel free to reach out to your supportive network. It’s vital to feel we know ourselves from the inside, but external feedback helps too. Ask your family and close friends about what they think about you. Have them describe you and see what rings true with you and what surprises you. Carefully consider what they say and think about it when you journal or otherwise reflect. Of course, don’t take any one person’s word as gospel; you need to talk to a variety of people to get a comprehensive view of yourself. And remember that at the end of the day, it’s your self-beliefs and feelings that matter the most to you!
Returning from Vacation
Have you ever gotten back home after a vacation and felt completely exhausted and wondered how you would get through the upcoming work week? Well look now further! After going on a vacation and needing to come home to get shit done, I found some tips for everyone to follow.
But first and foremost, do not feel guilty about taking your vacation! You deserved every minute of it.
Before you leave
- Clean up your home and your work space
- Plan an outing with friends when you come home
- Write a to do list
When You Return
- Do not go back the day after you return from vacation
- Go through emails from oldest to newest before responding
- Get an update
- Update your to do list
- Bring a piece of vacation with you
- Write thank you notes to those you traveled with
- Write a journal entry about your vacation
- Unpack right away
- Interact with others about your vacation
- Go to work with a new set of fresh eyes
- Take breaks through the day
- Do not add dramatic lifestyles to your life when you return
Disclaimer
This podcast includes explicit content, we discuss triggering material and are not mental health professionals. If you need immediate help please call the suicide hotline at 800-273-8255.
- Episode 8: It’s an Empty Chair
- Episode 7: As soon as this is over, it’s on.
- Episode 6: Low Pain Tolerance
- Episode 5: A Savage Bitch
- Episode 4: Small Enough?
Sources
https://myquestionlife.com/self-awareness-test/
https://positivepsychology.com/self-awareness-matters-how-you-can-be-more-self-aware/
https://lifeskillsthatmatter.com/self-awareness/
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-self-awareness-2795023
https://www.inc.com/john-discala/how-to-recover-from-post-vacation-fatigue-get-back-to-work.html
https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-come-back-from-vacation-and-not-want-to-die
https://www.topresume.com/career-advice/10-tips-for-returning-from-vacation-with-minimal-stres
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