Self-Awareness

Taking a Look

In each person’s life comes a time when he asks the question

“Who am I?”. This stems from a need to develop a sense of
identity—to see the self as a distinctive individual. Indeed, each
person is like no other even though he shares many motives,
values and interests with others. The understanding of the self’s
uniqueness leads to the integration of the needs, capabilities,
values and goals into a coherent whole that is more or less
consistent over time. This is turn lends direction and purpose in
the pursuit of a career.
Self-awareness defined

Self-awareness, as defined through the social emotional

literature, is accurately assessing one’s feelings, values, and
strengths; and maintaining a well-grounded sense of self-
confidence.
Self-awareness is about understanding yourself in a way that
allows you to understand who you really are and why you do
things in the way that you do.
Self-awareness defined

Self-awareness is having a clear and realistic perception of who

you are. Self-awareness is not about uncovering a deep dark
secret about yourself, but understanding who you are, why
you do what you to, how you do it, and the impact this has
on others.
A Closer Look

We need to be aware of our gifts and strengths and we need to

be aware of our limitations. We need awareness of our beliefs,
our assumptions, our emotions and our motivations.
A Closer Look

 Developing self-awareness is important for better relationships

and for a more fulfilling life, both in the school and at home or
workplace.

 Having self-awareness allows you to see where your thoughts and

emotions are taking you. As you develop self-awareness you are
able to make changes in the thoughts and interpretations you
make in your mind. Changing the interpretations in your mind
allows you to change your emotions
 A Closer Look

 With a good understanding of how we relate to others, we can

adjust our behavior so that we deal with them positively. By
understanding what upsets us, we can improve our self-control.
And by understanding our weaknesses, we can learn how to
manage them, and reach our goals despite them.
 A Closer Look

 Being aware requires reflection and reflection requires you to

think of about yourself with regard to your actions, feelings,
interactions and thoughts.

 It is good practice to reflect when things go wrong but it is also

good practice to reflect when things turn out well, or even better
than expected.

 There is a lot learn about oneself in good and bad times through
reflection. Through reflection we can understand ourselves
better and this can allow us to:
 Why it’s Important?

 Gain more control and make better decisions

 Be more flexible and confident in our approach
 Help ourselves deal with challenges in a more positive and less
anxious way
 Interact better, communicate more effectively, and understand
our relationships with others fully
 Reduce our stress and get more out of life
Therefore self-awareness can lead to
personal development.
Self-Concept: Who are you?

 Self-concept refers to your subjective description of who

you think you are.

 Self-image is your view of yourself in particular situations

Self-Concept Components

 Attitude: a learned predisposition to respond to a person,

object, or idea in a favorable or unfavorable way.

 Beliefs: The way in which you structure your understanding

of reality (true/false).

 Values: Enduring concepts of good and bad, right and

wrong.
One of Many Selves?
 The Material Self
 The Social Self
 The Spiritual Self
The Material Self
 The material self is a
total of all the tangible
things you own:
 Your body
 Your possessions
 Your home
The Social Self
 The social self is that
part of you that interacts
with others:
 You change based on
interaction with others.
 Each relationship you have
with another person is
unique.
The Spiritual Self
 The spiritual self consists of all your
internal thoughts and introspections
about your values and moral standards:
 It is the essence of who you think you are.
 It is a mixture of your spiritual beliefs and
your sense of who you are in relationship to
other forces in the universe.
How the Self-Concept Develops
 Our communication with
other individuals
 Our association with
groups
 Roles we assume
 Our self-labels
Self-Esteem:
What is your value?

 While self-concept refers to your description of who you are,

self-esteem refers to your evaluation of who you are.

 Your self-esteem can fluctuate and rise or fall within the

course of a day.
Self-Esteem:
Social Comparisons
 We become more aware of ourselves by measuring ourselves
against others, a process called social comparison.

 It can be self-defeating to take social comparisons too far, to

cause your self-esteem to suffer because you compare
yourself unrealistically to others.
Self-Esteem:
Self-Expectations

 Self-expectations are those goals we set for ourselves.

 Self-esteem is affected when you evaluate how well you

measure up to your own expectations.

 Be weary of placing unrealistic demands on yourself.

Self-Esteem:
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

 The self-fulfilling prophecy refers to the idea that what

you believe about yourself often comes true because you
expect it to come true.

 Your level of self-esteem affects the kinds of prophecies you

make about yourself and colors your interpretation of events.
Communication & Self:
Engage in POSITIVE self-talk
 Intrapersonal communication involves
communication within yourself – self-talk.
 Your self-concept and self-esteem influence the way you
talk to yourself.
 Your inner dialogue also has an impact on your self-
concept and self-esteem.
 Self-talk is related to the building and maintaining of
one’s self-concept.
Communication and Self:
Visualize

 Visualization involves “seeing” yourself exhibiting some

desirable behavior.
 Apprehensive public speakers can manage their fears by
visualizing positive results:
 Reduce negative self-talk
 Enhances confidence and speaking skill
Communication and Self:
Surround Yourself With Positive People
 Surround yourself with people who have higher levels of
self-esteem

 Don’t engage in pity parties

 Immunize yourself from negativity

Communication and Self:
Lose your baggage

 Avoid constantly re-living negative experiences.

 Let go of past experiences that cause your present self-

esteem to suffer.