Self-Awareness and Self-Management

What is Self Awareness? 

• is having a clear perception of your personality, including strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, beliefs, motivation, and emotions
• Allows you to understand other people, how they perceive you, your attitude and your responses to them in the moment.
• Is the first step in creating what you want and mastering it. Where you can focus your attention, your emotions, reactions, personality and behavior determine where you go in life.

Characteristics of a Person 

Eddie Babor discussed in his book ―The Human Person, Not Real But Existing‖ that the human person have several characteristics, among which are the following:

 1. Rational - Every person is a rational being. This is what distinguishes a person from all other creatures in the world. As a rational being, a person is free to think and has the capacity to reason. He can distinguish what is right and what is wrong because he has intellect.

2. Free - All human beings are born free. A person has the freedom to do or not to do a specific action. However, every person must be responsible for his own action. In other words, a person can do whatever he pleases but not to the extent of doing harm to his co-creatures.

3. Unique - Every person is unique. Every person has his own identity such that no two persons are the same. Generally speaking, human beings have the same characteristics and physical features and but no two persons are the same because every person has its own perception, has different sets of values and priorities in life.

4. Social being - Every person is intrinsically a social being. He cannot detach his ―being‖ from others and all other creatures in the universe. Human nature is characterized by his togetherness and relationship towards other creatures; be it a thing, object or his fellowman.

5. Sexual - All created living things are sexual in nature but the uniqueness of expression of a person‘s sexuality makes it all different. The expression of a person‘s emotions, attitudes, feelings, actions and thoughts in sexual activity best exemplifies his uniqueness from animals.

You as You 

1. Know the difference between your biological or inherited traits and your environmental or acquired traits.

2. Self-awareness is an awareness of one’s own personality or individuality
 Be your own best friend and believe in yourself, so that you become the person you want to be.
 you are you and you are what you think.
 You are unique in your own way.
 Only you can control your destiny and make a difference in your life.

You as a Filipino 

1. Being aware of and remaining constantly on guard against the Filipino tendency towards negativism

2. Use your “lakas ng loob” (courage and strength) to move away from the fatalisitc “gulong ng palad” (wheel of fortune) and “bahala na” ( come what may) attitude.
 Begin by getting involved with your own life
 Begin without expecting instant miracles
 Believe in your abilities and work unyieldingly to reach your objective

You and Your Faith

1. Recognizing Divine Providence
2. Filipino worship is directed towards God as a father-figure who takes care of all- “Bahala na ang Diyos”

Your self-help concepts -

 Self- improvement teachings 
Examples:
 Believe in Yourself
 Keep Your Priorities Straight
 Take Responsibility for Yourself
 Focus on What You Want
 Control Stress
 Do Everything with Love

Your self-made wall of negative self-talk 

 Negative Self-concept

Examples:
 It’s just no use!
 I just know what it won’t work!
 That’s just my luck!
 I’m so clumsy!
 Everything I eat goes right to my waist.
 Today just isn’t my day!
 I can never afford the things I want
 I never have enough time!
 That really makes me mad!
 I’m too shy!
 I never know what to say!
 And the never ending list goes on…


The Self-Management sequence

1. Life is not a matter of luck or fortune
2. Success in self-management is always the result of something else, something that leads up to it.
3. Most of what happens to you happens because of you- something you created, directed, influenced, or allowed to happen.

1. behavior 
 Means our ACTIONS- How we act, what we do, each moment of each day will determine whether or not we will be successful that moment or that day in everything we do.
 What we do or do not do

2. feelings 
 How we feel about something will always determine or affect what we do and how we will do it.
 Our feelings will directly influence our actions.
 Our feelings are created, controlled, determined, or influenced by our attitudes.

 3. attitudes 
 Are the perspectives from which you view life.
 Good attitudes are created, controlled, or influenced entirely by our beliefs.
“The difference between a good day and a bad day is your attitude"

4. beliefs 
 What we believe about anything will determine our attitudes about it, create our feelings, direct our actions, and influence us to do well or poorly, or succeed or fail.
 Belief is a power to make something appear to be something different than what it really is!
 Belief does not require something to be true: it only requires us to believe that it’s true.

5. programming
 Our conditioning from the day we were born has created, reinforced, and nearly permanently cemented most of what we believe about ourselves and what we believe about most of what goes on around us.

CONCLUSION…
1. Programming creates beliefs.
2. Beliefs create attitudes
3. Attitudes create feelings
4. Feelings determine actions
5. Actions create results

THE LEVELS OF SELF- TALK
Level I: negative acceptance 
 The lowest, least beneficial, and the most harmful level of self-talk
 You say something bad or negative about yourself, and you accept it
 “I can’t” “If only I could…”

Level II: recognition and need to change 
 This level is beguiling.
 On the surface it looks as though it should work for us, but instead, it works against us.
 “I need to…” “I ought…” “I would…”

Level III: decision to change
 Is the first level of self-talk that works for you
 You recognize the need to change, but also you make the decision to do something about it
 You state the decision in the “present tense” like “I never…” “I no longer…”

Level IV: better you
 The most effective kind of self-talk
 You are painting a completed new picture of yourself
 “This is me I want myself to create” “ I am…” “ Yes I can”

Level V: universal affirmation 
 self-talk which has been spoken for thousands of years
 Self-talk of “oneness” with God
 “It is…”

“I am one of the universe and it is one with me. I am fit, within it, and exist as a shining spark in a firmament of divine goodness”