The Power of Self-Awareness

Evolving on a personal level requires continuous self-reflection and self-honesty. By examining our behavior in a compassionate and nonjudgmental way, we can regularly identify any areas in need of positive change and align our choices with our true goals and priorities.

As a form of self-coaching, there are many powerful questions we can ask ourselves depending on the areas we wish to improve. Spending time to ask these questions can be an eye-opening and life-changing experience. It might be helpful to purchase a journal to write out your thoughts.

Here are some examples of powerful questions that can help us to gain more self-awareness:

How do I feel right now?

Are my thoughts energizing or draining me?

How am I making others feel around me?

Are my words, tone of voice, and body language communicating the message I want to send to people?

Am I making choices aligned with my deepest priorities?

Do I compromise my values or well-being to please people?

Do I judge myself or other people as good or bad?

Am I living my truth? Am I speaking my truth?

Do I have any destructive habits or addictions that I would like to transcend?

Do I feel worried or at peace most of the time? Is there anything causing me anxiety that I need to accept or change? What supports are available to me to manage stress or anxiety?

Self-awareness is the key to self-control and self-mastery. It is easy to become entangled in the energy of others and to forget to remain grounded within ourselves. Ultimately, true peace can only be found from within.

By making a conscious commitment to stay connected to our inner awareness and knowing, we can strive to model the behaviours we hope to see in others, and learn to transmute any negative energy we may encounter.

Self-Awareness Exercise

The Body

Becoming aware of how the body is feeling can help us to identify areas needing our focus and attention. Life can be so busy that it is easy to neglect our health.

Our body is communicating with us constantly. Maintaining the mind-body connection is an important part of mindfulness.

Paying attention to the body helps us to monitor our health more effectively—it will also allow us to actively calm any areas where we hold tension.

A daily meditation can be beneficial, where we scan the body for any areas holding tension, particularly during stressful times. We can then use relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing, to feel more grounded.

Write down a way in which you can connect more with your body daily (e.g., meditation, exercise, walking barefoot in the grass, using breathing techniques, etc.).

The body is also a powerful instrument of communication to others. Our body language often communicates more than our words do.

Do you feel your body language aligns with the message you intend to send others? If not, how can you improve upon this?

The Mind

Checking-in with our self-talk regularly can help us to identify any thought patterns that are not serving us. The mind is there to empower us—not enslave. We can consciously align our thoughts to our higher goals.

It is helpful to set a timer each day to remind ourselves to check-in and assess the quality of our thoughts. This process can assist us in identifying any limiting beliefs or perspectives that may no longer serve us.

Write down any negative thoughts that you have had recently. Then reframe the thoughts you listed into a more empowering perspective that will help to inspire positive change. Practice doing this each time you have a negative thought that holds you back.

The Spirit

The word “spirit” may have a different meaning to each of us. For some, “spirit” may represent connection, love, or that which gives us meaning or purpose.

The questions below will help to bring awareness to our values, and whether we are living aligned with our higher selves.

Write down the personal qualities (characteristics or attributes) you feel are most important (e.g., honesty, dependability, self-discipline, etc.).

Do you feel your daily thoughts, words, and actions are aligned with each of the qualities you listed in the previous question? If not, describe how you can more closely align with your values.

We all have opposing forces within us that need to be balanced and integrated with our higher awareness. True wisdom can only be found once we have applied our knowledge to our everyday behaviour.¹

Whatever we want to attract into our lives, we must become first.

Inspired by the work of P.D. Ouspensky, “The Psychology of Man’s Possible Evolution”, Vintage Books 1981 ↩︎