What is Self-Awareness?

Keys to success: 3 self-awareness strategies that will help you have a great year.

Think about how you are experiencing life.

Most of us go through life doing just that: going through it. We rarely stop to think about what is happening, why it is happening, or how it could be different. This has a lot to do with how fast-paced life is today. We have so much to do that we can't slow down. Slowing down, though, is the only way that we can make life more meaningful. 

No one wants to get to the end of their life and realize that they haven't really lived it. When we get to the end, we want to have good memories, rich relationships, and know that we have made positive contributions to the world. Likewise, once you finish middle school, you will want to know that you have lived it well. 

How do we ensure that we won't regret the way that we have spent our time? Take time to focus on the small things, right now. Every day. Those small things quickly turn into big things that then determine a life. 

What are the small things? Decisions you make. Reactions you have. Emotions you feel. Thoughts that you think. Habits you develop. You can become more aware of these things. You can learn how to control them and use them to become the person you want to become.

Learning about the way you think, feel, and respond to your experiences will help you develop self-confidence and succeed in school. Let's face it: we could all use a little insight into why we do what we do, especially when these little things have such an important effect on our lives. These strategies are here to help. 

Here are some things you can do to become more self-aware:

Keep Track of Your Emotions

Write it all down.

Some people like to call this a journal or a diary, but it can take many forms and it doesn't have to be fancy. For example, maybe you would rather draw than write. The important thing is to record how you feel about things that affect you and then think about what made you feel that way. This can help you recognize how to change negatives to positives faster.

What to do: Get a notebook or a journal that you can write in every day. Find a time of day that will work consistently for you. Write down things that happened during the day and how you reacted to them. What did you do? How did you feel? Try rewriting a scene the way you wish it would have played out.

Make a "Self-Like" List

What do you like about yourself?

You have made grocery lists. You have made homework lists. You have made bucket lists. But have you made a "Self-Like" list?

Most of us don't see a whole lot to like about ourselves. Our mistakes seem to stand out more than anything else in our own eyes. This is precisely why making a positive list about ourselves is so important. Focusing on so many negatives about ourselves won't turn them into positives. We have to help ourselves see the good within us, and we have to remind ourselves of it often. Just hearing it from others won't do the trick.

What to do: Make a list of things you like about yourself. What are some words that would describe your best qualities? Put this list in a place where you can see it and add to it often.

Stop Comparing

Don't worry about what everyone else thinks.

Surrounded by so many people, especially in middle school, it's hard not to do. We want to fit in. We want to know how to identify ourselves. We feel like we have to measure up to some social or academic standard if we are going to make it as a person.

But all that comparing and measuring up will only bring misery. We can't be exactly like anyone else. It just isn't possible. The only way to find our happiness is to live our own life in the best way that we know how. We have to be ourselves.

What to do: Make a list of what you are grateful for, then add to it every day. What are you glad that you have in your life? What (and who) do you care about? What have been your best moments? Write it all down!

Make New Habits

Think about why you do what you do.

Thinking about how you think and act may sound complicated or even strange, but it doesn't have to be that way. Just take one thing from the list and do that for a month. Notice what happens!

Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

(Frank Jackson) 

For more ideas on how to be more self-aware, visit your school counseling center.