Beyond deeply knowing yourself and being in tune with your emotions, the true power of self-awareness is rarely recognized.
This is because the true power of self-awareness comes at a high cost.
The cost of doing what’s right.
The power of self-awareness lies in the ability it gives you to self-correct and choose a different path when necessary. It empowers you to make better decisions.
When you’re deeply self-aware, you recognize that more choices exist than do not exist.
However, with more choices comes more decisions and the necessity of taking ownership and responsibility for those decisions.
This is the cost of self-awareness.
And more often than not, we’d rather opt for the free option than pay the price.
Here’s what I mean.
The Reality of The Situation
The reality is, the more self-aware you are, the more you start to recognize the choices available to you.
The more choices you have, the bigger the obligation you’ve to do the right thing at any given moment.
This responsibility, though, is not one many people want.
This is because it’s easier to be reactive than it is to be proactive.
Let me give you an example:
Let’s say you come home after a long and busy day at work. To add to the stress, you spilled coffee on your shirt at your 8 A.M. meeting and had to park on the fourth floor of the parking garage even though you work on the second.
When you open the door and walk into the kitchen, you realize the dishwasher hasn’t been unloaded, even though you texted your significant other and asked them to unload it before you got home.
You walk over to your bedroom and see your significant other sitting, enthralled by a YouTube video.
If you’re not very self-aware, you’re likely to let the stress of the workday get to you by throwing all your frustrations at your significant other in the form of an argument.
With little to no thought in between the time you see the full dishwasher and walking over to your significant other, you just let yourself react.
That’s the free option.
Flip the coin, and if you’re deeply self-aware, there’s intentional thinking that happens between when you see the full dishwasher and when you walk over to your significant other.
First, you recognize the frustration you feel, but know that it stems from the stressful day you had at work.
Then, you think about how long it takes you to get home from work- only ten minutes- and realize that’s not a ton of time for your significant other to be able to accomplish the task.
Next, you realize that the reason you asked them to unload the dishwasher in the first place is because you don’t want to do it…and they probably don’t want to either.
Finally, you think about the fact that you two already agreed to order pizza for dinner, so it’s not like there’s going to be any dirty dishes to be loaded anyway.
When you’re deeply self-aware, all these thoughts (and more) can pass through your mind in the moments between when you see the full dishwasher and walk over to your significant other.
With these thoughts come choices that necessitate a proactive decision, A.K.A, the cost of self-awareness.
You can choose to make a big deal out of the incomplete task, or you can choose to walk into the room, collapse into the arms of your significant other, and tell them how stressful work was.
Self-awareness and the choices it provides you are significant in the trajectory of your life because they provide beyond just the choices themselves.
Choice Gives Freedom
When you’re unable to recognize the choices you have in life, you can tend to feel trapped and dissatisfied.
This can set an overall tone of dullness and unhappiness in your life.
However, when you’re self-aware, you’re able to see the possibilities that lie ahead and the choices that are available to you. And this gives you freedom.
Freedom to determine the trajectory not only of your day-to-day but also of the big picture of your life.
Choice Gives Perspective
When you’re able to give yourself more choices, you’re able to better understand different perspectives.
Self-awareness is all about understanding your emotions and learning to perceive reality apart from how your emotions say you should perceive it.
That’s why the choices you give yourself that are rooted in self-awareness allow you to see things from different perspectives, especially from the perspectives of others.
When you practice self-awareness, you’re better able to see things from a third-person point of view, removing any emotions that may be hindering your ability to think and act in a way that is proactive.
When you have a better perspective, you’re able to act rather than react.
Reaction stems from a lack of choices and is rooted in ignorance.
Action stems from an abundance of choices and is rooted in self-awareness.
Choice Leads to Opportunity
Where choice lies, so does opportunity.
The more choices you have, the more opportunities you have.
At the micro level, you expand your opportunities for compassion, empathy, and understanding.
That means that instead of starting an argument with your significant other about the dishwasher, you choose kindness.
The more you choose kindness, the more opportunities you create for it.
At the macro level, you expand your opportunities for success and luck.
This means that instead of viewing your being laid off two weeks ago as an adversity, you see it as an opportunity to expand your knowledge by getting a new job and trying something different.
The more opportunities you’re able to see in your life, the more they’re naturally attracted to you without any effort of your own.
Real Talk
Having a strong sense of self-awareness is vital because it means you’re deeply aligned with who you are and what you want and are in tune with your emotions.
But beyond that, the power of self-awareness lies in the ability it gives you to make a choice.
And when you have a choice, you have freedom, perspective, and opportunity.
It also allows you to be proactive instead of reactive, which gives you the freedom to do the right thing.
And doing the right thing is a price worth paying in the game of life.