Improving yourself is a big goal in most people’s lives. We all want to be the best version of ourselves, but we can often find that we have certain parts of us that need more improvement than others. The only way you can keep improving on yourself is being aware of where you need to put in the work. This is why it’s so important to be self-aware.
What exactly does it mean to be self-aware? Self-awareness can look like a lot of different things, but some define it as the experience of one’s own personality or individuality. Being self-aware means to understand who you are as a person and how you present yourself to others.
Some people can be very self-aware, while others can struggle to see themselves in an objective way. This isn’t always necessarily a bad thing, but it is important to have some level of self-awareness.
These are some ways you can try to be more self-aware:
- Keeping a journal. Keeping a journal or a diary and writing regular reflections can help you to keep track of yourself and your behaviour. If you are regularly reflecting on yourself, then it is easier to discover your habits and ways of acting. If you read back on old journal entries it can also allow you to see the differences between your past and present self.
- Perform daily reflections. This point is very similar to the previous one, but some people will struggle to keep a journal, but may be able to take five minutes out of every day to just reflect in their thoughts about how their day went and what they hope for tomorrow.
- Ask trusted friends to describe you. If you find that you are really struggling to get a sense of self, then one of the best ways is to open up to a friend and ask for them to explain how they see you. It is also important to let your friend know that they are doing this to help you, not to hurt you.
- Question your decisions. The best way to make sure that the decisions you are making are the right ones, is to question the important decisions that you make. One of the best ways of doing this is to come up with three reasons why you’re making that choice. This will give you a better understanding of your motives, and it should also hopefully make you more confident that you have made the best decision for you.
Hopefully these tips will work to help you improve your self-awareness. Just remember that you can be your own worst critic most of the time, and there is such a thing as being too self-aware. It’s important to keep a healthy balance between the two.
Caoimhe Looney was the Editor-in-Chief of Student Independent News for the year 2023/24. She is a Final Year Journalism and Law student in the University of Galway. Caoimhe has been writing for SIN for two years and was previously Health and Lifestyle Editor.