by Charles Chen

Created on: March 20, 2009

Self awareness is the first step and fundamental of your future success. Almost every book or blog about personal development puts an emphasis on self awareness, whether literally or figuratively. Self awareness is about knowing what you have done in the past, what you are doing now, and what you want to be in the future. But of course, self awareness can give you much more than that.

Knowing what you have done in the past helps you re-organize your experience, and by looking back in your life, you get a better idea of what you should do now and what you want in the future, which acts as the compass for your road to success.

Firstly, when you develop a self awareness, you get to know what you already have, which might be overlooked by you. Knowing yourself is an important section of self awareness. Everyone is blessed with something that is unique to you. This is not religion. It's what scientists told us. There is not so much difference in our genes. It is the effort we make that really accounts. Knowing what you are good at and what you like, you will naturally devote your energy and time to it. And that's just the beginning of the change of your life.

Secondly, you have a better idea of what you're doing, thus making your actions aiming at your goals, automatically. This is something really amazing. Most people who have just got to know about personal development have a strong motivation to work toward their goals. And it's their new recognition of their life that helps make such change. Personal development articles work to help us gain a better understanding of ourselves. As mentioned above, when you make you goal clear, you know what you should do and what should not do. So next time when you face choices like "eat more fruits or hamburgers", it will be much easier for you to make the "right" decision. That's how self awareness works; it guides you directly to the success, not the failure way.

Finally, your continuous actions toward your goal give you a stronger motivation. As you develop a sense of the actions you're taking, each time you finish one project for your goal, you become more confident about your future. That's also how personal development works. Every time you choose to do the right thing, it'll become easier for you to do the same next time. This has been proved by psychologists. Self awareness ensures the feeling of satisfaction of your life.

Everything seems simple in word, but they're useless until you really try them. Self awareness is about discovering yourself hiding deep in your soul. As the Chinese saying goes, "To know the enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat." It applies not only in commanding wars, but also in guiding your way to a greater career success.

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