HOW TO HARNESS AWARENESS TO GENERATE RESULTS

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Here’s a staggering thought: Even though most of us think we’re self-aware, research suggests that only about 10-15% of people truly fit the bill. 

Self-awareness – the ability to see yourself clearly – is the bedrock of emotional intelligence, and it’s the foundational pillar of our Ripple Effect Framework, the philosophy that underpins everything we do at foundher. Why is awareness key? Because who you’re being affects what you’re doing, 100% of the time. And if who you’re being is stuck on autopilot, you can bet that your results will be set to cruise control, too.

Autopilot is great for your systems, but it’s not ideal for high performance. In this rapidly changing world, we’re no longer doing ‘business as usual’ and the skills we need to navigate the new normal have evolved. Awareness is now gaining considerable focus as an essential skill for modern leadership and business success, because the ability to understand how we show up in the world – our beliefs, thoughts and emotions and how they drive our actions – is a secret weapon that empowers us to adjust, adapt and change course as problems and challenges arise.

If you’re ready to start generating incredible results in your work and life, you can begin by switching off autopilot and getting conscious about who you’re really being, every day.

AWARENESS IS PRODUCTIVITY’S SUPERPOWER

Cultivating more self-awareness allows you to recognise what makes you tick on any given day – when and what makes you thrive, how you’re dealing (or not) with challenges, what your time-sucking habits are, the exact ways you tend to procrastinate, and what are the ways of being that truly support you recharging.

Wouldn’t that be helpful intel to have on you? 

Knowing the ingredients that go into making you your best allows you to keep making that recipe over and over again – and being successful at ‘you’ is the most important job you can have. Similarly, when you’re more aware, you become conscious of what diverts your attention away from your purpose, that most authentic and aligned version of you. Suddenly, you’re less overwhelmed, your decision-making has more clarity, and your productivity is supercharged.

Another helpful way to evolve awareness is by recognising your own survival-mode habits and behaviours. When we’re navigating uncertainty, we tend to shift into a fear response – the typical fight-or-flight mode – which is a survival state. In this state, our capacity to see the bigger picture is harder, and our overall way of being is affected – really unhelpful, right? This can manifest as overwhelm, feeling like you’re just getting through and you don’t have enough time, or even falling into a state of ‘analysis paralysis’ when it comes to making important decisions for the future. We’re built to take fewer risks when we’re in survival mode, and our decisions are more reactive than responsive.

Self-awareness allows you to be more conscious of how this state affects you when business planning, scaling or making big life decisions. Super helpful!

While cultivating a daily awareness practice won’t stop you from going into survival mode, it will absolutely help you pay attention to the ways you adopt this state and take conscious, considered action to respond appropriately, such as asking better questions and being more experimental with the moves you make.

Building greater awareness

So, how can we cultivate more awareness?

This isn’t about navel-gazing; reflective self-awareness is about taking a curious approach to all things you.

One of the ways in which we work with clients is to help them add a morning meeting with themselves to their daily rhythm. Sounds simple, right? Bear with us. It might only be five minutes with a great cup of Campos, but this regular reflection ritual offers an opportunity to check in with how you’re feeling and what you want to achieve, what went well the day before and what you learned from any challenges, and how you could best approach your day with that knowledge. 

It can also be helpful to take some time to think about your big-picture goals and why you want to achieve them. What’s driving you, and what underlying beliefs could be holding you back? 

Evolving your awareness isn’t only about knowing yourself, it’s getting great at understanding how you are being experienced by others, too (more on that topic soon!). Asking how you’re showing up can give you a gold mine of perspectives – be brave!

And, if you’re worried that turning inward for self-reflection might be a little confronting, well, you’re probably right. When we take off the blinkers in life our unhelpful patterns, habits and behaviours are revealed, and that can get uncomfortable. However, the growth that you experience as a result can be wonderful. Deepening your awareness will help you unlock huge dividends in your work and life. 

Awareness is productivity’s superpower, so if you’re ready to evolve your awareness for greater capacity, take a look at our online program Sustainable PACE.