Self-Awareness First

Indeed, the notion establishing one and becoming a better person than what you are is very important in this day and age than ever before. However, self-knowledge and self-realization are crucial part of developing an individual. Most importantly they are the determinates to achieving success. Self-knowledge is the beginning of self-improvement, it is the foundation in which we build a life and a future. This basically means the chances of becoming a better and successful person depends on some level of self-knowledge being the independent variable together with self-improvement being the dependent variable.

A study conducted by Lukas Heremann, a researcher in social neuroscience revealed that, “you need to know yourself to understand people” which I completely agree with. I support Lukas Heremann’s view because in order to establish myself and build a brand for myself, I need to be capable to relate with people which requires some level of emotional intelligence (the ability to understand your emotions and those of other people furthermore to behave appropriately in different situations). Self-awareness which is a product of self-knowledge is one major element of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence assists us relate with other people’s feelings. Moreover, self-awareness plays a vital role in mental health. Mental health strongly depends on how good one understands themselves on the inside.

I personally and strongly believe that once we know ourselves and have identified our strengths and weaknesses, we get a better insight and understanding of ourselves which will propel us to be a better version of our desired selves. Having knowledge on ourselves helps us to be confident with the things we can do and the things we cannot do. Self-knowledge provides clarity to understand and give a better idea needs, desires, wants, beliefs, views and values. Lack of self-knowledge leaves one vulnerable to mistaken ambitions or rather become overambitious towards the process of self-establishment. Knowing who you are offers a direction to greater enlightenment, happiness, and fulfillment. Self-awareness creates room for self-improvement. Assume I want to improve myself, I firstly; you need to accumulate data about myself by conducting a self-introspection so as to know which part I can improve based on the collection of data.

Lack of self-knowledge causes one to encounter obstacles and sometimes these obstacles repeat themselves because on self-unawareness. Often people who encounter recurring obstacles do not understand the reason why obstacles repeat themselves. Having self-knowledge will help gain self-esteem and identify the root of the obstacle and ways to tackle it. A person who does not know themselves will not be able to pin point the root of the problem henceforth they will accept the obstacles. Accepting a problem and not permanently dealing with it will hinder progress of becoming a better being. Obstacles encountered at times may be a result of not knowing what you want as an individual, that is why self-knowledge is so important to root the cause of the problem an solve it.

Being self-aware promotes and improves leadership skills. Swift decision making is one key quality of a good leader. Knowing yourself will aid in getting rid of internal fear. In order to be a better version of what you are or to be a good leader, extreme confidence is highly needed. And the only way to gain his confidence is through recognizing who you are.

Once we possess a strong understanding of ourselves then that is when we can think of becoming a better person. Take for instance a career goal, one must to know where his personal goals, interpersonal skills and strengths lies so as to achieve the desired path. The secret behind becoming the person you are not or becoming a better person is hidden in self-awareness.