Your Ultimate Guide to Growing Self-Awareness 2024

This post explains everything you need to know on how to understand yourself better and continue growing self-awareness, whether you are looking to enhance your self-communication and awareness. We will talk about going beyond your ego, mending relationships, overcoming anxiety or fear, and changing your lifestyle for the best! This is your ultimate guide to looking deep within to transform into the diamond that you are.

Table of Contents

• First off, what does it mean by understanding self?
• Why should you focus on improving your self-awareness?
• Where would I start on the path of self-awareness?
• How is being self-aware or reflective able to improve my life?
• When I try to reflect, it’s too difficult for me.  It’s hard for me to see my shadows.  Why should I bother?
• What is the point of shadow work or growing self-awareness?
• I need help.  I am not sure what to do.  What is the next step?
• How can Able help me to see my shadows?
• She is a communications coach, how can Able help me with my relationships or life problems?
• What you can get from the Brave Heart – Empathic Communications Program
• Final Thoughts

First off, what does it mean by self-awareness?

This definition was put out by psychologists Shelley Duval and Robert Wicklund:

“Self-awareness is the capacity to concentrate on oneself and determine whether one’s actions, ideas, or emotions are consistent with one’s internal norms. You can control your emotions, match your actions with your ideals, and accurately assess how other people see you if you have a high level of self-awareness.”

Shelley Duval and Robert Wicklund

Simply put, people with high levels of self-awareness are able to analyze their behaviors, emotions, and ideas from a distance.

It’s a unique talent because many of us perceive our circumstances based solely on our emotions. Being self-aware is crucial for leaders because it enables them to evaluate their progress and effectiveness and alter their course as needed.

Why should you focus on improving your self-awareness?

In various stages of life, we go through different levels of dependency. The three areas are divided into:

• Development Dependencies such as a child needing care by parent or caregivers
• Financial Dependency such as one person needing another entity for financial support
• Social or Psychological Dependency such as one person’s reliance on others to meet their own social or psychological needs

If you have heard of collective consciousness first shared by Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), it is defined as

Collective consciousness (sometimes collective conscience or consciousness) is a fundamental sociological concept that refers to the set of shared beliefs, ideas, attitudes, and knowledge that are common to a social group or society.

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

Because of our nature as social animals, we have a basic need to share a set of beliefs, ideas, and attitudes with our social groups so we can feel safe and accepted. Safety and the need to connect are basic human dependencies but as we grow into maturity and our paths are no longer the same as our social groups, we are required to adjust our perceptions to adapt to the reality of our unique situation.

Stubborn dependency does not allow us to reach our fullest potential but rather allows our fears to hold us back by not wanting to step outside of our comfort zone. Therefore creating pain points and delaying growth. Dependency keeps you trapped in the cycle of giving and taking which leads to suffering (when your expectations are not met). The cycle of suffering does not lead you towards a sense of freedom that everyone seeks in life.

Self-awareness is equally important for personal development. What the collective shares is never the exact unique experience of an individual. Self-awareness allows an individual to adjust and adapt to their own needs and unique situation to better understand their perception of self, their emotional triggers, and understanding of their own mental patterns to enhance the ability to choose the best reaction for a situation.

Where would I start on the path of self-awareness?

Self-awareness can happen in many ways but usually triggers when you feel stuck or unable to move forward within a situation. This is when you will start asking yourself questions such as:
Why did this happen to me?
Why am I stuck in this situation?
Why is this repeating again?

How is being self-aware or reflective able to improve my life?

Most of our problems in life are self-made. Meaning we create our problems due to our limited perspective, inability to understand a situation, unable to understand others, or why we are triggered by certain people or situations.

Being aware that you do get triggered or encounters certain challenge towards a certain type of people is a start on your path toward self-awareness. Being self-awareness or reflective helps you to understand a situation from a higher perspective as you are seeking to understand it as a whole rather than just within your head.

Having another perspective helps you to understand yourself about another which can alleviate self-made guilt, pains, or stubborn mental patterns that you may not be able to observe within yourself before.

When I try to reflect, it’s too difficult for me. It’s hard for me to see my shadows. Why should I bother?

Working on self is part of the path of human evolution so we can grow more peace within and raise our consciousness. Whether we purposefully wish to work on ourselves or not, life will push us along and force us to learn. It is part of the human evolution.

Do you want life’s situations to force you to learn or do you wish to willingly learn by seeking to adapt, become flexible and try to lead toward a more peaceful life? The choice is yours.

What is the point of shadow work or growing self-awareness?

The main objective is to develop self-love and a deeper understanding of self which leads to compassion. We are called human beings but most people on earth do not know how to be. They seek validation outside of themselves, distractions through endless stimuli all around, and are unable or even unwilling to understand why they have underlying anxiety or irritability.

Working on the self can lead to more calmness and acceptance in life which can better one’s life and well-being.

I need help. I am not sure what to do. What is the next step?

Hire a Coach such as Able through the Brave Heart Program. When choosing to invest in yourself, you need to choose a Coach that fits you. Look at our program and schedule a free 30-minute consultation to see if Able is the right Coach for you.

Learn More About Our Brave Heart – Empathic Communications Program Here

How can Able help me to see my shadows?

Able uses various techniques but through her own life experience having entered Sotappana (known as Stream Entry) and having worked on herself for the past two decades, she will use methods such as mirroring, mind mapping, breath work, meditation, and perceptual position patterns to help you.  

She will also develop an understanding of you when she ask questions based on your challenges. And you are required be open and honest with her when sharing your struggles.

She is a communications coach, how can Able help me with my relationships or life problems?

Yes, Able is a Communication Coach but she is also a human being living her life with her struggles. She had overcome many obstacles in her life and has found a sense of contentment and peace within. Her methods may be able to help you as well, especially through empathic communication which is related to the word choices we use to describe ourselves as well as mindset coaching.

Essentially, you must understand that Able is not here to fix you or fix your life/relationship problems but to help you (as your mirror) to see yourself clearer and to guide you towards feeling  free to choose a better life within or without.

What you can get from the Brave Heart – Empathic Communications Program

You will get:

1. Insights from a worldly human being who truly cares and has been working on her own personal growth continuously since the past two decades
2. Buddhist philosophy to help you see a deeper meaning of the world around you
3. Understand your mentality or mindset on a deeper level
4. You will get personal 1-on-1 time with Able Wanamakok
5. See your shadows as Able will start to see them after the 3rd session (if coachee is openly sharing)
6. Deep conversations from a spiritually aware person who will be there to stand beside you
7. Insights into your inner self if you allow yourself to see
8. A deeper awareness of self (this depends on how reflective and open you are to what you receive)
9. Truths (this could be very hard for some coachees to accept and that’s why it’s called Brave Heart)

Related Posts: Abundance Versus Lack: Mindset Advice For Female Entrepreneurs

Final Thoughts

It’s all your choice. If you have a positive attitude or wish to have positive changes, then seek someone who had been there with real-life experiences and not just theories or methods that are taught in a classroom.

What are you waiting for? Hoping and dreaming that you will have a happier life will not help you get there. You must take action to work on yourself. It won’t be easy and that’s a guarantee. Learn More About The Brave Heart Program Here

But you are the one who has to live with yourself every moment of every day, would you want to live your best life? Contact us now.