Mastering Self-Awareness: The Key To Success | Qadees Nasir

According to a study at Harvard University, only 10%-15% of people have self-awareness. It is a skill that is truly very rare; a skill that most of us, including myself, are guilty of not prioritising. Luckily, it is also a skill that can be practised and developed. Self-awareness can help you not only improve relationships with colleagues and manage your emotions but also aid you to become a better leader. To truly grasp the idea of self-awareness, we first need to understand what this skill actually means and why it is so important. 

What Is Self-Awareness?
As we all know, every individual goes through distinct experiences in their life. With each experience, being personally crafted to match their situation. This is why self-awareness is such an essential skill. It is tailored uniquely to resemble each person's life. To be self-aware goes beyond trying to figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are, it's more about understanding what makes you so unique and how your actions can affect those around you. Possessing this skill can allow you to control your emotions and behaviours in any situation. Adjusting to different environments and situations helps not only those around you but also positively impacts your own personal growth.

For me, self-awareness played a pivotal role in my pursuit of self-accountability. By understanding my strengths and weaknesses, I am able to steer myself to continuous improvement. Take procrastination as an example. Many of us, including myself, find ourselves battling the war with procrastination. This is where self-accountability & self awareness take centre stage. Having the ability to recognize procrastination as an area of improvement, helps us change our way of thinking. That may be through, splitting our tasks into smaller portions or perhaps assessing our priorities. To be able to do this effectively day in and day out we must take self-accountability. Which is only possible through self-awareness. Self-awareness in my view, isn’t something that can be overlooked as it pushes me towards bettering myself. Mentally, emotionally and physically. All of which ultimately improve my personal well-being. 

Challenges On The Way To Self-Awareness: 

In the grand scheme of trying to master life's essential skills, there are always obstacles that we must overcome. Self-awareness is no exception. An example I know all of us can relate to is overcoming the desperation of hitting that snooze button on our alarms in the morning. However, each and every one of us tackles the obstacle of laziness by digging deep, hustling and getting up. The same goes for self-awareness. An example that most of us could relate to at least one point in our lives is, being afraid of change. I totally get it! Not knowing what will come next and the nervousness of different environments can be challenging. However, like everything in life, there is always a way to learn and overcome.
In this example, the first and most important aspect people forget to take into account is, to not be too harsh on yourself. Something I am guilty of doing time and time again. Slowing down and reflecting on what you have achieved can be a big step toward increasing your confidence and not fearing change. A direct correlation to self-awareness. Knowing you need to slow down and navigate where you are is something that is extremely valuable. A key reason why being self-aware is so important. 

Secondly, try and take smaller steps. There will always come a time in which we may find ourselves perhaps plateauing. Working on self-awareness allows you to reassess your options as well as reflect. It gives you the chance to navigate through whichever obstacle may be in front of you. If you feel as if you are not making progress, then you are wrong. Understand that each step is still a step. Small progress is still progress. All of this put together helped me and will hopefully help you in achieving self-awareness. Whenever life seems to be going at 100mph just slow down and reflect. Adjust your skills to benefit you. Having the ability to do so gives you a clear vision of where you’ve been, where you are and where you want to go. 

Looking At Different Types Of Self-Awareness

Did you know that there are two types of self-awareness? Yes, that is right. Two. The two different types are known as internal and external self-awareness. To fully understand the skill and how we can implement it into our lives, we first need to dive into each different type.
 Who would have thought a skill that is portrayed as being simple and easy, would be so complex to obtain? 

Internal self-awareness
Let's start with internal. What is it? Why do we need it?" and, How do we practise it? These are some of the questions that also went through my mind when I first started to study it. Fascinated by why this durable skill had two parts, I decided to look into it further.

 To put it In simple terms, Internal self-awareness refers to how well we understand ourselves. From our values to our emotions. Internal self-awareness helps us to reflect on the choices we make and the things we say. For example, if you were in a situation where you excel at analysing data but struggle with time management, you need to reflect on your strengths and weaknesses by asking yourself questions such as: 

“How can I leverage my strengths to overcome obstacles?”

or 

“What can I do differently to manage my time properly?”

In this case, it might be as simple as blocking your calendar out or practising a skill you could improve on to reduce your overall time consumption. Ultimately, to be internally self-aware you need to start by taking time to reflect on your internal self. Through evaluating your performance you can thoroughly improve yourself. Allowing you to perform better no matter the situation.

External self-awareness:
The second and final type of self-awareness helps us understand how those around us perceive us. To successfully acquire this type, we need to be able to adapt to our environment. Adjusting our behaviour to match the surroundings. A key example we all can relate to is that our behaviour and language around colleagues can be different from our behaviour and language outside of work.  Being externally self-aware requires an individual to know the impact their behaviour will have within different environments. Individuals with strong external self-awareness can navigate through different situations and adjust to the environment they're in much more easily. 

To gain this type of self-awareness we need to grasp the idea of how we are perceived by others and how our actions can impact others around us. To successfully do this, we should try putting ourselves in different surroundings, and have honest individuals (colleagues, family or friends) around us that you can seek advice and constructive feedback/criticism. Being in this environment can help us massively when it comes to achieving overall external self-awareness. 

The Importance Of Self-Awareness:
While researching self-awareness and looking at ways in which we can all benefit from having the skill, I came across multiple famous psychologists and famous individuals who spoke on the topic. The 2 quotes that particularly stood out to me were;

1. Umar Ibn Khattab RA - My personal favourite out of the 2, came from someone who has a very famous legacy within Islamic history. He was the second caliph of Islam and was someone who was filled with wisdom and bravery. He mentioned the following on the topic of self-awareness: “Hold yourselves accountable before you are held accountable“ This quote not only shows us why controlling our emotions is extremely necessary but also demonstrates the importance of self-reflection at all times. I know we would all much rather hold ourselves accountable rather than the other way round. So let us all make sure we reflect in the best way possible.
2. David Goleman - A famous psychologist who studied emotional intelligence once said, If your emotional abilities aren’t in hand, if you don’t have self-awareness, if you can't control your distressing emotions, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far“ A quote that is easy to understand but also one which shows how important self-awareness truly is.
There are several durable skills out there that are extremely valuable and can be seen as a necessity within the workplace and in life. The reason I chose self-awareness in particular was that once learnt, it gives each of us a chance to sit down, take a breath and reflect on our decisions every once in a while- which in my view can only be a good thing. When life is going at 100mph it’s granted that slowing down is a must. 

The question I want to leave you with is, How are you working towards achieving personal growth and self-awareness?

Qadees Nasir is a Digital Business Accelerator apprentice at Multiverse, based in Manchester, United Kingdom, and is writing for The Apprentice Lens. Here's more about them: 
'Hey! My name is Qadees, I currently work as a technology apprentice at Barclays Bank. I am keen on expanding my network and connecting with fellow professionals & apprentices. I hope my blogs have been interesting to read and I look forward to writing many more in the future.'