How to ACTUALLY Master Self Awareness
Self awareness is a pain in the ass. Here you are tracing every detail of your actions, your appearence, your thoughts, and your processes with a critical eye. An eye that never sleeps, never rests, and is somehow always on target. It’s an intelligent eye because without much focusing, it lands on exactly where it intends to. Or is it that our minds are so brilliant that no matter where the eye lands, it will find something?
There’s been a trend that is bold and brave that tells us to every morning, every afternoon, or every evening, affirm ourselves. Tell ourselves “positive affirmations” and soon we will believe them to be entirely true. I used to think: “Okay, where is the difficulty in that? I just say a bunch of shit and eventually, it’ll become my truth? Copy.” But everyday I stand in front of the mirror and in the four corners of my mind, and my truths are loud, but not necessarily always positive.
For every truth that you wish, make ONE action step. Not two, not seven. ONE. For some of us who are skeptical and critical, positive affirmations that exist without ground or backbone just are not enough.
My skin is beautiful and my dark marks will leave. I will commit to stopping picking my face when a blemish comes up.
My body is beautiful, and I will grow the muscles I am working so hard on. I will commit to not talking myself out of working out.
This sense of self awareness has dimensions, and is not automatically in positive light. When we sit with ourselves and journal, meditate, go for walks, practice yoga, things come up. The infographics on Instagram on how to practice wellness don’t always explain what to do in that moment where you’re super excited for finally doing all the right actions, but the thoughts that come up make you wish you never left your bed.
My solution is simple: acceptance — affirmation — action.
Let the guilt breath, let the embarrassment marinate, and let the sadness overcome you for a little bit. Let the eye examine these feelings. Let it tear apart these thoughts, and then you affirm yourself. I know I don’t communicate well, but I can become better. I will try to contact one friend or family member a week that I have been neglecting. You need to accept what has happened as truth and fact, whether or not you percieve it positively or negatively. Acknowledge where you want to be better, and give yourself a baby step. Once you master baby steps, you will be strong enough to take leaps. Don’t let “Hustle IG” and “Entrepreneur Twitter” fool you out of the reality of your humanity.
