A full recognition of yourself gives you the opportunity to become the self-fulfilled person you’re destined to be.

Are there things about your life that you wish were different? You CAN make changes. First, you have to become self-aware. This entails taking an honest look at yourself, recognizing what your mind and body is telling you, identifying strengths along with weaknesses, and accepting the totality of who you truly are. Some people call this taking a personal inventory and it is good way to look at this process.  By developing a framework for who you are and what changes you desire, you will soon see a path to follow. Change is a process, NOT an immediate event. As you continue to focus on your well being, the sub-conscious will incorporate the changes into whom you are.  Practice making changes and you will find that you get more adept at it.

Here are some ideas to assist you in moving towards self-awareness:

1. Decide who you are and who you would like to be. When you are conducting this self-evaluation it is important that don’t focus ONLY on the negative aspects of your being. Acknowledge the positive because it is big part of who you are. Most people often neglect their positive characteristics; instead punish themselves for their faults and weaknesses. Start by making a list of the good. This way you won’t forget the positive and it will ease the pain of facing your flaws.
2. Be Honest. Honesty is a requirement for looking at ourselves. If we are not honest, our egos can easily exaggerate how wonderful we are or low self-esteem can over-emphasize our faults. Either way we develop an incomplete and inaccurate picture of self. Be courageous! See yourself for who you are!
3. Incorporate personal preferences. People often try to make dramatic changes without reviewing what is truly important to their happiness. So while you are putting together your “change plan”, identify and evaluate your likes and dislikes, then decide if they are to be part of the “new you”.
4. Challenge your inner being. Most of us have inner turmoil. As we embark on our journey towards self-awareness it can be helpful to identify what motivates us, our dreams or fears, and what causes us stress. Exploring our emotions will help us face and overcome our internal struggles.
5. Seek input from others. We are not always able to truly “see” ourselves. In this case it can be helpful to ask the people in our lives to give us some feedback. Let THEM tell you how they honestly view you, what they see as your strengths and weakness, and what they like or dislike about you. This can turn out to be a somewhat unpleasant experience, but if we can lower our defenses, set aside ego, and honesty evaluate what are friends are saying, we can learn a great deal about ourselves. Isn’t that what we are trying to do? Become self-aware, rid ourselves of low self-esteem and negativity, and live up to our potential? Get to know yourself. Love yourself. Find Happiness. It’s all connected.

Until you examine the truth of who you are, you cannot move into the person you can become.