While consciousness is being aware of one’s environment and body and lifestyle, self-awareness is the

recognition of that awareness. Self-awareness is how an individual consciously knows and understands
their own character, feelings, motives, and desires.

Self- Awareness.

To know and understand yourself, your emotions, needs and desires is probably the most important
thing in life. It means you are more likely to live an authentic, fulfilling and happy existence alongside
people and places that add meaning and energy to your world.

Knowing yourself means you are more likely to assert your own values, maintain personal boundaries,
understand your strengths and weaknesses and make decisions that are realistic and intelligent while
remaining equanimous and empathetic to your peers.

The intimate knowledge you have of yourself is called self – awareness and those who have a lot of it are
more likely to achieve their goals, cultivate nurturing and meaningful relationships and feel connected
and engaged with their lives and jobs.

Being self-aware means you probably have good means to adapt socially, you are aware of your own
impulses, desires, limitations and are able to adapt and accommodate to different social and cultural
situations. This flexibility to adapt, manage and shifting emotional and social needs of others is a skill
that many can envy.

Self awareness is important because when we have a better understanding of ourselves, we are able to
experience ourselves as unique and separate individuals. We are then empowered to make changes and
to build on our areas of strength as well as identify areas where we would like to make improvements.

Self-awareness is part of an intelligence that is far more important than book smarts and forms part of
the golden quadrant of emotional intelligence.  People with a high EQ have these four characteristics:

1. They were good at understanding their own emotions (self-awareness)

2. They were good at managing their emotions (self-management)

3. They were empathetic to the emotional drives of other people (social awareness)

4. They were good at handling other people’s emotions (social skills)

Developing your emotional quota begins with developing your self-awareness and one of the best ways
to develop this is to practice meditation, cognitive behavioural therapies and mindfulness. These
practices are all designed to help you self-examine, self-soothe and become self-reliant and
resilient when it comes to life’s obstacles. When you can learn to identify your emotions, feel and
connect with them, understand their place and engage with them appropriately you are able to
communicate and interact with the world more effectively.