Leader - know thy self!
‘Mastering others is strength; mastering ourselves is true power ‘- Lao Tzu . Self-awareness is the ability to introspect and recognize oneself and understanding our needs, desires, habits, and motives. Knowing ourselves helps in mastering our lives resonated with a Buddhist, on our recent trip to Bhutan. Being self-aware can be a difficult process as Daniel Kanehman reveals that we tend to have biases in our memories which are inaccurate.
In order to become more self-aware, we can start by maintaining a journal, have a more objective view of ourselves (turning the camera onto ourselves- introspect ! ), use self-reflection exercises, savoring new experiences, unravel the alternate story about ourselves ( not the dominant narrative told to us) that will help us take the road less traveled. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex forms the neural basis of self-awareness, cognitive scientists report begins in infancy and is a life long process.
Personally, having started the process of self-discovery through suffering personal loss led to immense feelings of vulnerability; one needs to trust one’s instinct, make sense of one’s life through strong connections, purposeful living by focusing on the present moment and realizing the transient nature of our lives. Becoming more aware of our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors help us to face life’s challenges and difficulties.It also helps in opening new possibilities, making better choices and decisions, significant changes in dealing with our emotions, behavior patterns. ‘Wisdom can be achieved through imitation which is the easiest, experience which is the bitterest or reflection which is the noblest ‘- Confucius
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Published by
Sangeetha Madhu
Director at Global Leadership, Eisenhower Fellow (2017)
Published • 3y
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