A newborn cub loses its mother at childbirth and is adopted by a mother sheep. The lion grows up believing that it was a sheep. It bleated and ate grass like a sheep. But, it was never truly happy. It always felt there was something missing. Plus, the other sheep made fun of it for being different. It was called ugly, weird, and a disgrace to the sheep community.

One day, an older lion attacked the herd of sheep. While it was attacking, it saw the young lion running away along with the other sheep. Curious as to what was happening, it decides to go after the younger lion. The younger lion, scared for its life, begs the older lion not to eat it. The older lion, astonished by the ignorance of the younger lion, tells it that it is a lion. But, it maintains that it is a sheep.

The older lion gets an idea. He takes the younger lion to a river, asking it to look at its reflection. Upon looking at his reflection, the older lion realizes it is a mighty lion. It feels so thrilled that it lets out a mighty roar that echoes from all the corners of the jungle, bringing fear to the sheep. No longer will the sheep be able to make fun of the lion or even stand close to it, for it had found its true nature and its true herd. It became self-aware.

What is Self -Awareness?

Self-awareness is the ability to know and understand your individuality. It is experiencing how your thoughts, actions, and emotions make you who you are.

[Self Awareness]The ability to take an honest look into your life without attachment to it being right or wrong.
Debbie Ford.

In the anecdote, we see that the young lion did not know who it was and the power it had because it had never objectively evaluated itself. This is why it was unable to align its appearance, emotions, and uniqueness from the sheep with its personality. Rather, it took on the perception that it was a disgrace to the sheep community.

Simply put, a self-aware person is one who can interpret his/her thoughts, feelings, actions, reactions, and lifestyle objectively to understand his/her individuality. Although self-awareness has become a buzzword, it is, in fact, a rare skill, especially among young people, as most of us have an emotionally driven interpretation of who we are. However how rare it is, it is important because it allows us to build on our value system and keeps us on target to becoming the best version of ourselves.

Types of Self-Awareness

We, humans, basically have two personalities: the person we portray in public and who we are in private. There are several misconceptions about these personalities. Often times, we refer to it as being two-faced. The truth is, these two personalities are part of human nature. We have our private self and our public self. This is why psychologists have split self-awareness into two distinct types:

1. Public Self-Awareness

2. Public Self-Awareness

Public Self-Awareness

This is the awareness we have of ourselves as social beings. It is the understanding of how we are perceived by others. Public self-awareness involves being conscious of our behavior, appearance, and the impression you make on others.

When we become publicly self-aware, we are more likely to be cognizant of how our actions align with social norms, societal expectations and the opinion of others. You begin to see yourself as the object of attention of others, thereby assessing yourself from other people’s perspective. This has its perks. Our value system is mostly shaped by society’s norms. Being publicly self-aware helps us adopt the right kind of values that will shape you to being a better version of ourselves.

Not withstanding, public self-awareness when left unchecked can cause us to lose sight of who we really are. The goal of self-awareness is to know who we really are and what we stand for. Over the years, the norms of our society have transitioned. When you are overly publicly self-aware, your value system changes as society’s changes. This means your personality is in flux. Thus, we never know who we really are because we are so busy trying to be who society wants us to be.

Private Self-Awareness

This is the introspective awareness we have of our internal thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Who are you when no one is looking? This is an important question we have to ask ourselves as young people whose identity is still under development. We need to be attuned to our thoughts, emotions, motivation, values, and everything that makes us who we are.

Ideally, there should be a degree of alignment between your private self and your public self, although total congruence is not always necessary. When your private self aligns with your public self, it means that the way you perceive yourself is the way you present yourself to others. This alignment promotes authenticity in your identity. This may not be achieved at adolescence. However, your journey through identity development and self-exploration will get you there. Through this journey, ensure that the values you align with in public agree with the values of your private self.

Why is Self-Awareness Important?

Self-awareness is the same as knowing yourself. In this same sense, asking why self-awareness is important is the same as asking why it is important to know yourself.

The overall importance of self-awareness is identity development. As a young person, the pressure to meet standards, norms, and expectations is overwhelming. Today, we may act like our values are independent of the opinion of others’ but it is. It is safe to say that there are certain people whose expectations of us help us to form our identity. There are also those we look up to forge our identity.

When we are self-aware, we have the understanding of who we are. The basis of our identity is already formed. Our fundamental values are imbibed in us. This is what we build on. As we grow and go through self-exploration, we pick up new habits and values, but our true self doesn’t change.

Moving forward, self-awareness opens your eyes to the kind of things that are healthy for you. The right kind of circle, your preferred method of achieving your goals, the right career, and generally the life that is best suited for you. When you know these things, the problems of the world wouldn’t just throw you off track.

How Do I know If I’m A Self-Aware Person?

It’s great that you want to know if you’re self-aware and how you can improve on this trait. Through self inquiry, asking questions and taking a self-awareness test, your curiosity can be satisfied. The iNLP self-awareness test will tell you your level of self-awareness and what you can do to improve it.

How Do I Become More Self-Aware?

The following tips will help you become a more self-aware person in your daily life.

Engage In Self-Reflection

Set aside time regularly to reflect on your experiences, actions, and emotions.

Embrace Vulnerability

This deepens your self-awareness and improves your understanding of yourself and others.

Engage In Self-Assessment Tools

Personality assessments, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) or the Enneagram, helps you gain insights into your personality traits, strengths, and areas for development.

Seek Feedback

Talk to a variety of people to know and understand their perspective of you. This will help you develop a comprehensive view of yourself.

Continue Learning About Self-Awareness

Read and listen to helpful self-awareness resources.
Remember, developing self-awareness is a gradual process. It requires consistent effort and self-reflection. Be patient with yourself and embrace the journey of self-discovery. You’ll get there!