Whether we are going to be driver or the passenger in our lives is defined by our awareness levels on self & environment around us.

In my first write-up on Awareness, we focused on the significance of awareness, and its liberating effects on being present & mindful. Next one established awareness being a precursor to learning and catalyst to behavioral changes. As such, awareness is the answer to multitude of our problems – big or small, that we encounter in our daily lives. So, therefore, it is paramount that we understand to establish sharp connect to our deeper levels of consciousness heightening our awareness levels which in turn will enable us to elicit well considered responses to plethora of stimuli that this VUCA environment throws to us.

In this article, we shall first witness the traits of individuals who are aware and then we shall examine as to how we raise our awareness levels.

Traits of individuals with high Awareness Levels:

1. Exhibits well-considered reactions – Restricts Emotional Reactions;
2. Has Independent self-concept;
3. Handles the Internal Noise/Criticizing self-voice well;
4. Is internally motivated, rather than externally, to learn;
5. Can direct own learning;
6. Is interested in immediate application of knowledge;
7. Manages his/her learning needs as per changing roles;
8. Can use his/her accumulated life experiences as a resource;
9. Is adaptable & flexible; can change as per changed needs/requirements;
10. Is empathetic - creates Love and Happiness.

We will now evaluate some of the handy tools that enhance our awareness levels and help us win our daily life-battles.

16 Steps to Awareness:

1.   Connect to your motives: Being aware means understanding your intent well and determining whether the action that we are doing is consistent with our long-term goals of life. Before acting on a decision, ask yourself “Why?” Follow up your response with another “Why?” And then a third. If you can find three good reasons to pursue something, you’ll have clarity and be more confident in your actions.

2.   Be Mindful of your journey: Keep a journal and track your progress. Set regular goals, break big goals down into smaller milestones. Ask yourself at the end of each day, “What did I do well today?” And, “How can I improve on this tomorrow?”

3.   Self-reflection: How would you rate your current level of self-awareness out of ten? Think about how often you say regretful things; repeat bad habits; make absent-minded decisions; and have erratic thoughts. Focus on how you can improve on the same. Celebrate improvements & punish undesirable behaviors.

4.   Monitor your self-talk: There is a non-stop commentary going on in our heads on whatever is happening to us. What affects us positively or negatively is not what happens to us but the way we process the information of something happening or not happening. We must pay attention to this self-talk. How do we motivate ourselves when chips are down or how do we handle winning situations? Positive and negative feedback-loops will form in your mind based on how we respond to our failures and successes. While we must celebrate our wins, we must be self-compassionate to forgive us for our losses as a little bit of negative self-talk can spiral into stress and depression.

5.   Know what you don’t know: Knowing what we don’t know is a very critical step towards awareness. Self-improvement only happens once you recognize a flaw. Awareness helps us look inward and recognize the flaws.

6.   Develop a “Positive Bias for Action”: Knowing is never enough. Once we recognize the gap, we must have a swift action orientation to apply the learning towards self-improvement.

7.   Taking responsibility & ownership: Nobody is perfect. However, we often externalize our concerns/worries/failures. However, highly aware people assume responsibility for mistakes/failures and don’t blame others. They learn from failures and apply the learning on their next tasks. Highly aware people maximize their “circle of influence” & minimize “circle of concern”.

8.   Think through before you act: A person without self-awareness runs on auto-pilot, and responds with knee-jerk reactions. Self-awareness allows us to assess situations objectively and rationally, without acting on biases & stereotypes. It is said that between stimulus and response, there is always a thinking-time. If we practice to utilize this pause on having a considered reaction, we can change the course of our lives. Take a deep breath before you act, especially when a situation triggers anger or frustration. This gives you time to firm up the correct response to the stimulus.

9.   Take Long-term view of life: The ability to say “no” to yourself to put off short-term gratification for the long-term gain is an important life-skill. Like a muscle, it is strengthened with exercise. The more you practice saying “no” to small daily challenges, the better you can withstand major temptations.

10. Recognize your special talents: Understanding your “strengths” and “talents” can be the difference between a good choice, and a great choice. While Strengths are skills and knowledge that can be acquired, talents are innate. There are always some tasks that you do better than others or far quicker than others, which wins you accolades. These may be the ones where you use your special talents. Weaving your life goals around your special talents can help you win big time.

11. Develop Awareness around contingencies: There are chances that our plan “A “will not work. And we must plan for these contingencies during planning itself. Most of the times we fail because our plans get derailed & we don’t have planning to handle these small hindrances or derailments.

12. Challenge your assumptions: Taking an opposing view forces you to question your assumptions. Your "default" beliefs and worldview are not always reasonable; it’s healthy to “argue against yourself” and see how your views hold up. And you’ll give your brain a good workout. Processing challenging information stimulates new neural connections.

13. Solicit Feedback: We all have blind spots in our thinking patterns and behaviors. Soliciting regular feedback enables us with other views that help us counter self-deceit or one-dimensional views that we might hold. However, let us be wise in choosing our sound-boards.

14. Observe yourself: We must observe ourselves & reflect on when we succeeded and when we failed. What was our psychological state of mind, our mannerism, thoughts patterns when we won or lost should be observed. We should strive to repeat the desirable ones and weed out undesirable ones so as to maximize the opportunities of success. Record a speech or a presentation and evaluate your posture and gestures. Repeat the mannerism of the ones where you succeeded.

15. Create your own emotional vocabulary: Articulating your emotions into words is like a therapy. It is very powerful. Learn to expand your vocabulary so that you get into meaningful conversations establishing deep connect with people around.

16.  Meditation: Taming your monkey mind is a foundation practice for improving self-awareness. Practice to become aware of how your mind wanders, pull it back, snap out of distractions. Connect to your being. Hold the space. And be a better version of thyself.

By doing these, we would be able to

(a) identify & recognize our emotions well enough to be able to address & manage them;

(b) have an accurate self-perception through reflection & by soliciting feedback;

(c) recognize and leverage our strengths to augment our confidence & efficacy in managing difficult tasks & situations

(d) recognize weaknesses & flaws so that we improve on them or circumvent them or plan for them.

It must be you against yourself. Focus on self & it will expand…..