You may be asking is self-reflection the same as self-awareness? Self-reflection and self-awareness are similar but one is a state of being aware, and the other is about looking inside yourself through self-reflection. So therefore self-reflection and self-awareness are not exactly the same. If you know yourself and can control your emotions and behaviour you are experiencing self-awareness. If you think over, evaluate, and contemplate yourself, your behaviors, and your actions, you are immersing yourself in self-reflection. Now let’s dive deeper into the two.
Self-awareness is to be aware of “You”
The dictionary defines self-awareness as “Conscious knowledge of one’s own character and feelings”. Being self-aware is being aware of yourself. Everyone should be working on themselves to know who they are, or what they need. It’s too bad a lot of people don’t know who they are, what they want, or what they are looking for. I must say that to some level we all lack some form of self-awareness. As long as you are alive in this physical plane you will be forever unfolding your truth. We are all here to learn more about who we are and we will forever be working on ourselves as we are also always changing.
Most people are more aware of what others think about them than what they think about their own selves. They take what others say or how others treat them as gospel, as their truth. Other external forces can impact our understanding of ourselves as well. What we are actively consuming like the media. What you are consuming can consume you, and distort your entire perception of yourself.
You are not genuinely self-aware if you are judging yourself based on what others think, the cost of your things, or if you look like your favorite celebrity. Take the time to look within your own truth and not reflections of the world around you.
Self-Reflection – Think about your life
The dictionary defines self-reflection as “The activity or thinking about your own feelings and behavior, and the reasons that may lie behind them”. So remember that self-awareness is a state and self-reflection is the action you will take to reset or modify your self-awareness to improve your behavior and emotion, your overall wellbeing. After some practice of self-reflection, you will be great at monitoring your thoughts, emotions, and actions effectively in many types of environments.
Have you ever regretted saying or behaving a certain way with someone maybe you lash out in anger or ignore someone when you shouldn’t have. This is what self-reflecting is all about, you are reflecting on past actions. Now you can take the next steps to understand your own goals and needs, instead of letting them be formed by external forces.