Increasing Your Self-Awareness

Marilyn Orr

“He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.”

Lao Tzu

Lately I’ve had the pleasure of having conversations with both family members and friends about their Myers-Briggs or StrengthsFinder results. The use of assessments is not the only way to increase one’s self-awareness but it’s a fun one!

Partly the assessment gives you time to reflect and agree or disagree with statements in the tool about you.

These kinds of tools can be used well and bring a lot of understanding and acceptance between people on a team or in a family.

Sadly, I’ve also seen these tools used very poorly. When used wrong, the results can inappropriately be used to limit people or simply hurt and alienate people.

Today I want us to simply pause and think of a next step for each of us in our journey of deepening our own self-awareness and understanding. This truly is the foundation to lasting growth and change.

Assessments are just 1 of many ways. Taking time to either receive some feedback from people who know you or taking time to reflect and ask yourself some thought-provoking questions are great avenues also.

Assessments often word things or group qualities in ways that we would not do on our own and can therefore expand our thinking. Even when we disagree.

Here are a few, just a few, of the assessments out there that I’ve worked with and enjoy using (on myself and my clients):

DiSC  (measures behavioral style preferences)

Myers-Briggs   (personality type indicator)

360  (this elicits feedback from your peers, direct reports, boss, etc.)

Strengthsfinder  (34 themes and you receive top 5 or all in ranking order)

EQi  (Emotional intelligence ranking 15 scales, all can be worked on)

There are values assessments, animal types, conflict style indicators, etc.

The Johari Window is a great illustration. It was created by psychologists Joseph Luft (1916–2014) and Harrington Ingham (1916–1995) in 1955. Here is the model:

We don’t know what we don’t know! We need to use a variety of methods to shine light on our blind spots and the “unknown” areas of our being.

Although there are new conversations around Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there definitely seems to be a connection between being all that you can be, self-actualization, and being fulfilled and happy.

What will you do next to increase your self-awareness? What will you do to shine light in to your blind spots and free up some of your own potential?

If you want resource ideas let me know, I know a lot of coaches :)

Until next time,

Marilyn

By Marilyn Orr 12 Mar, 2020
Really, a Pill for Loneliness?There truly is research going on for this right now. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/26/pill-for-loneliness-psychology-science-medicineIt is not that this isn’t a major problem. It is a huge issue now and trends show it having grown.22% of adults in the USA “always or often” feel lonely.
By Marilyn Orr 30 Jan, 2020
A dear friend of mine said to me once, “you know what I need before I do”.Being sensitive to emotions and subtle language cues is not something I was born doing. In my mid-twenties I was oblivious to my own anger. I mean, really oblivious.
By Marilyn Orr 26 Dec, 2019
Speak to your audience Take a few moments to plan your post Don’t forget to add images Edit carefully before posting You know your audience better than anyone else, so keep them in mind as you write your blog posts. Write about things they care about. If you have a company Facebook page, look here to find topics to write about Once you have a great idea for a post, write the first draft. Some people like to start with the title and then work on the paragraphs. Other people like to start with subtitles and go from there. Choose the method that works for you. Be sure to include a few high-quality images in your blog. Images break up the text and make it more readable. They can also convey emotions or ideas that are hard to put into words. Once you’re happy with the text, put it aside for a day or two, and then re-read it. You’ll probably find a few things you want to add, and a couple more that you want to remove. Have a friend or colleague look it over to make sure there are no mistakes. When your post is error-free, set it up in your blog and publish.
By Marilyn Orr 19 Dec, 2019
Although the potential for a happy holiday is present for many of us there are any number of ways that it can go sideways and be highly stressful.This blog post is for you. The few of you that have an easy holiday ahead, I applaud you and remind you to really appreciate how amazing that is, and likely, how rare.The potential de-railers come in a number of forms: relatives that we find difficult to be around, a lack of control over our own schedule, too much time socializing (if you are more intr...
By Marilyn Orr 21 Nov, 2019
Are you Smarter Than All Your Friends?This is meant to be sassy. Here’s the point. Are you surrounded by people that just appreciate who you are without challenging you or pushing you towards a better you?It is amazing to have people around us that affirm us.
By Marilyn Orr 24 Oct, 2019
In a couple weeks I have the honor of speaking with up to 200 people about advocating for oneself. Finding our voice - not just to speak up for ourself but to create opportunities for advancement, acknowledgement and compensation.This is such an important topic. So many messages get in the way of us promoting ourselves.Self-promotion equals arrogance, is the opposite to humilityI’m not perfect, not the best person for the promotions, etc.I should focus on what I need to work on, focusing on stre...
By Marilyn Orr 12 Mar, 2020
Really, a Pill for Loneliness?There truly is research going on for this right now. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/26/pill-for-loneliness-psychology-science-medicineIt is not that this isn’t a major problem. It is a huge issue now and trends show it having grown.22% of adults in the USA “always or often” feel lonely.
By Marilyn Orr 30 Jan, 2020
A dear friend of mine said to me once, “you know what I need before I do”.Being sensitive to emotions and subtle language cues is not something I was born doing. In my mid-twenties I was oblivious to my own anger. I mean, really oblivious.
Share by: