15 Eye Opening Self Awareness Quotes

Isn’t it ironic that the subject of self-awareness seems to only enter your frame of reference once you have opened the door to it?  It’s a chicken before the egg situation.  How can you become self aware without self-awareness?  There’s little point asking someone who isn’t self aware what it means to be self aware, lol!  In other words, the mere fact of you asking ‘Am I self aware’ means you are in the least ‘becoming’ self aware. You get where I’m going with this.  Let’s look into it a bit more.  I’ve included some inspiring self awareness quotes, ones that will help me get the message across that self awareness signifies a shift in perception.  In short, I want to look at why we need self awareness, and why it matters so much for our personal growth.

Here’s the Thing, It’s a Slow Unfolding

Self awareness is a gradual process.  An unfolding, a peeling back of the layers of understanding.  This is not only essential for personal growth but also a natural part of it (again with the chicken and the egg!).  It’s about paying attention.  To yourself and to the world around you.  And, the more you pay attention the more you are able to make sense of things.  But, until you start to pay attention you are lost in the fog, living a life with blinkers on, seeing only one side of the story etc.

A simple example: if you are in an argument with someone and you are only focused on your side of the story you aren’t paying attention to the bigger picture, right?  This means you are not aware of potential crucial details that could help resolve the issue at hand.  But, become aware of someone else’s perspective and you open the door to better communication, understanding and resolve.  And, to be able to think this way you need to be aware of your own reactions and your own thought patterns.  Are they serving you or not?

Focus Inward to See Outward

So, above I talk about looking at things from another person’s perspective.  How does that have anything to do with my own self awareness?  In this particular situation you would have to become self aware enough to be able to see the value in being open to a new perspective.  It is recognizing your ability to make a contribution to the relationship.  Knowing that we all have different perspectives and that we each see the story differently.  And still being able to understand that each of us has our own value and need to be respected.  Not slipping into the trap of seeing only your side.

Self Management?

I was trying to think of a way that I can best describe self-awareness. It’s not an easy thing to do. We are so outwardly focused. So used to everything being about everybody else and not used to tuning in to how we feel about life. So, what does it really mean? And, how would you describe it?  To me being self aware is about knowing the power you have to manage your own life.  So, in short it becomes a tool for self management.

This applies to various aspects of life.  When we understand that we are more than this moment, more than this body, we understand that nothing is ever as serious as we make it.  We can give ourselves the gift of breathing through it and letting it go.  Take what you need and let the rest go.  With self awareness also comes the understanding that we are not our thoughts.  This means we can learn to work with them.  Again, take what you need and let the rest go.  Make them work for you instead of against you.  Stop focusing on outside influences and the way the world reacts towards you. Instead, focus on the way you react to the world, and to yourself.

Nurture and Grow

Awareness is something that we can train in ourselves.  Expand upon.  It is something we can nurture. We need to start small with things like nature, walks, meditation and a little bit of patience. This is about looking at yourself for the answers. This is about noticing your patterns, the way you react in life and finding ways to improve.  Use this to form positive patterns in your life.  Like becoming aware of how far you’ve come and how much you’ve grown.  Reminding yourself to practice patience and compassion where you may not have in the past.  Self awareness helps you to see the good and the bad.

In some ways it can be likened to holding a mirror up to yourself so that you can get a clear picture of how you fit into the situation. Another way to look at it is to see your own reflection in those around you.  See where your behaviour imitates that of other people (and be honest here!). We are so busy thinking of only what affects us that we don’t take into consideration how the other person feels, or what their perspective might be in the situation.  Trying to see things from someone else’s perspective is always going to be beneficial because it opens up your heart and shows compassion.  So, next time when you hear your thoughts go to ‘how dare they?’, stop yourself and shift your perspective to a more compassionate one.

Self Awareness Quotes

‘What we see reflects the state of our own mind’ Chris W Metz

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‘Self-awareness involves deep personal honesty.  It comes from asking and answering hard questions.’ Stephen R Covey

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‘Self-awareness is our capacity to stand apart from ourselves and examine our thinking, our motives, our history, our scripts, our actions, and our habits and tendencies. Stephen R Covey

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‘All that we are is a result of all that we have thought’ Buddha

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‘By becoming self-aware, you gain ownership of reality; in becoming real, you become the master of both inner and outer life.’ Deepak Chopra

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‘Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom’ Aristotle

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‘At the centre of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.’ Lao Tzu

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‘Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom’ Aristotle

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‘Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself: what fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?’ Marcus Aurelius

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‘The day you decide that you are more interested in being aware of your thoughts than you are in the thoughts themselves – that is the day you will find your way out.’ Michael Singer

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‘Your own self realization is the greatest service you can render the world’ Ramana Maharshi

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‘Awareness is the greatest agent for change.’ – Eckhart Tolle

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‘Until you make the unconscious conscious it will direct your life and you will call it fate.’ Carl Jung

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‘Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.  Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.’ C.G Jung

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‘He who knows other is wise.  He who knows himself is enlightened.’ Lao Tzu

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Tools for Self Awareness

Expanding on your self awareness can be achieved with simple daily tools such as mindfulness, meditation and self reflection.  Like I mentioned before, it starts with paying attention.  So, taking the time to be still and eg. appreciate the colours or fragrance of a flower, will help you to enjoy the moment.  In your relationships, give someone your undivided attention by looking them in the eyes when you talk.  In this digital world it is a simple gem to simply feel the connection between two people.  And, when you do this, take note of how it makes both of you feel.  Soak it up!

This will help you to become aware of how you feel in the moment.  It will help you think about more than you would if you’d simply walked past the flower or kept watching tv while talking to your loved one.  You will realize the value of the moment that would otherwise have been lost.  Mindfulness is massive in helping you gain a deeper appreciation for life and the beauty of this world.  And the more you practise it the more you realize it is teaching you about yourself and your place in the world as well.

Self Awareness Questions

It’s helpful to ask yourself some questions that get you thinking about what matters to you and where you fit in to the bigger picture.  Have a read of these questions (add some of your own) and see how you feel about them.  If they either make you feel some emotions or they lead on to more questions this is good, it means you are practicing self awareness!

Who am I?

What is my purpose here?

How can I live my best life?

Am I making a difference?

Do I have a soul?

Is there a God?

Am I living from a place of love?

Am I more than a body?

How do I talk to myself and others?

Is everything connected?

Who is thinking my thoughts?

Do I honour my emotions?

Can I control my thoughts?

Do I live in regret?

Measuring where you’re at

Positively Psychology has a fascinating article on this if you’d like to read more.  One of the stand out points for me is when they describe self awareness as you being the ‘observer’ of your thoughts.  In this way we separate ourselves from the hold our thoughts have on us.  It gives us the ability to see from a new perspective, and to see that we have the power to change our experience (and reactions) to the situation.  Our thoughts are not in control, we are.

Imagine you stop and observe yourself in the moment.  Say you are feeling hurt or angry about something.  You step back and see your reaction.  This gives you the chance to be objective about it instead of emotional.  Basically putting yourself in the role of therapist for yourself.  Now you have the opportunity to advise yourself how best to go forward.  First, you would look at why you are upset.  Maybe your personal values feel undermined or you feel under appreciated.  Give yourself a chance to really pay attention and to consider how you would advise someone else in the same situation.  The thing with self awareness is that when you see yourself clearly you are more aware of your strengths and your weaknesses.  This means you know where you need to invest your energy.  You know what areas need work and what areas need to be utilized for your progress.

Shifting your Perception

So, what does it do for us, exactly?  To my mind, self awareness brings with it a shift in your perception.  It changes the way you see everything!  It is like giving you a new set of glasses that allow you to really see clearly for the first time.  You look at the world and wonder ‘why didn’t I notice that before?’  You begin to really appreciate that we are both miniscule and mammoth at the same time.  We are all, everything, united and connected.

What you do affects not just yourself, but everyone around you.  Living your life from a place of self awareness means also being aware of everyone else.  Being aware that love really is the only answer that there is or ever needs to be.  You realize that your energy matters because it spreads around you like ripples and you want those ripples to be good.  So, be aware!  Not only of yourself, but of your ability to impact those around you.

As always I thank you so much for reading!  If you would like to share your thoughts I’d love to hear them, so leave a comment below!

Steph x

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