How self-aware do you think you are? How important is it to be self-aware? Lately, I’ve been diving into research on Emotional Intelligence (EQ), specifically self-awareness. Self-awareness is NOT something that is an innate strength for everyone (cue Tony Robbins’ comment).
“Self- Awareness is one of the rarest of human commodities”- Tony Robbins
However, unlike your IQ, your EQ is (thankfully) not set; you can strengthen your EQ over time. This is particularly good news, given the fact that 83% of people scoring high in self- awareness are top performers. And, individuals with high self-awareness tend to be clued into what they do well, their motivators, what they don’t do well, and how to align their actions to their strengths. The personal, professional and emotional benefits of honing our self-awareness seems undeniable. So, how do we do it?
According to authors, Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves (Emotional Intelligence 2.0) self-awareness is your “ability to accurately perceive your emotions in the moment and understand your tendencies across situations.” To understand our emotional reactions, we need to dig in to understand the situations (what) that trigger the reaction, how we react in the situation and why we react. Once we identify our triggers and reactions we can begin to get ahead of them. When trigger situations arise, we grow more prepared with the knowledge and tools to change our reactive behavior for the better. It’s a work in progress but one that over time, is well worth the effort.
Personally, I have done work on this with my own coach. Strengthening self-awareness is a game changer. I learned I have four emotional reactions (well-honed over time!) that are triggered by various situations in life. When these situations arise, I have worked to become instantly aware of the trigger(s) and have strengthened my ability to put space between my emotion and reaction. Self-awareness for the win!
Can you think of a few situations that commonly trigger you in your personal or professional life? How do you react? How do you want to react? Surely growing a skill that is so closely tied to high performance and overall mindfulness is worth exploring. Contact me to explore!