Insight and Self-Awareness – Is Your Mirror Foggy?

How often do you re-read what you’ve just texted to someone?  How about emails?  While that may in part be a desire to be sure you’ve used proper spelling and grammar, there’s more to it.  You want to know how it will be received and interpreted by the person on the other end.

If you believe the classic counsel of Stephen Covey, that’s backwards.

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

But too often we’re so unsure of ourselves that we worry more about the image in the mirror than the image out the window.  Knowing ourselves from within and how others see us is vital.  Unfortunately,  we’re woefully bad at it, says Tasha Eurich in her new book “Insight.”  And if that’s so, we can’t possibly remember that we are merely a piece in the machinery of human communication and relationships.  Getting better is our responsibility to both ourselves and those around us.  She gave this related TED talk that’s had over a million views:

Why Accurate Insight and Self-Awareness Is Important

There’s good reason to make the effort to shift.  Ms. Eurich identifies the benefits as:

• Increased personal happiness
• More confidence
• Ability to make better decisions
• Higher performance levels
• Increased creativity
• Better communication
• Stronger relationships
• Superior leadership skills

That’s a pretty convincing list.  Certainly enough to make improving your self-awareness skill a worthwhile endeavor.  Of course, pointing out the rewards without a roadmap to achieve them would be of marginal value.  Accordingly, she delivers on that, too.

After presenting a compelling case on what many of us are lacking in skill and missing in rewards, she provides guidance for improvement.  Presented as self-assessments, she’ll have you examining your

• values
• passions
• aspirations
• ideal  environment
• strength and weaknesses
• perceived impact on others

Continuing, she’ll go even deeper to help you read feedback accurately.  When you finish this book, you’ll have a much clearer understanding of self than you’ve ever had.

“Insight” by Tasha Eurich is an effective reminder that  mindfulness and self-awareness are vital in our quickly changing world.  But something more is required to make a real difference. That “something more” is what she addresses.  and her book is an excellent read.