Self-awareness Archives - from Gnome to Goliath

How to Uncover Your Core Values

Your core values are an unstoppable force that make you who you are and this article will help you uncover and live by them.

Whether you know explicitly or not, you all have a set of core values that determine almost everything in your life. You are at your best when your actions correspond to your values and your beliefs. But how can you rely on a value that you cannot name? How can you infuse your life with core values that you cannot understand.

This article is based on book I recently read – Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead (link to Goodreads). Core values is not the center topic of the book and I also recommend a lot of other gems in it, but the chapter about core values struck a cord with me and I think I discovered a nuance that Brené did not uncover (or at least did not write about).

Zero Inbox for the Mind

If you are depressed and/or anxious this is probably because of a thought stuck in your mind. It is time to declutter and get to Zero Inbox.

I have been using the Zero Inbox technique for my email (actually for all my emails) for a long time. It works because it is simple and because it is based on an understanding of the system that it serves (the e-mail). This month, I listened to two very different podcasts (more info below) which have nothing to do with each other that resonated into a single idea: Can you do Zero Inbox for your mind as well?

In this article, I have described my interpretation of Zero Inbox for the mind. My goal is to influence your understanding of the underlying system (i.e. your mind). And to show you what I use to keep that system in check and decluttered.

Monthly Reflection

Monthly reflection means scheduling time every month to review your principles and map them to the achieved goals to make sure you are on the right path.

You’ve defined your short-term goals and you’ve started putting them on your calendar. You feel that you are progressing toward your goals. But how can you be sure? You need a mechanism to pause, get out of the trenches, and see the big picture. This is called a monthly reflection.

It is easy to get lost in being productive for the sake of being productive. Once you make productivity a personal habit and you start ticking the most important tasks (MITs) on your lists, then it becomes very fulfilling. You’ve also added a progress bar and you know how you are progressing toward your mid-term and long-term goals. But are they still the right goals? Do they still make sense? Doing a monthly reflection will help.

In this article I cover the process of monthly reflection, where you take a step back to see the big picture again. You take a look the the goal in the distance in front of you and you take a look at the trail that you have left behind you. Also, you consult your map (roadmap or plan) to make sure that you are on the right track and that the track is still right for you. The process takes only about an hour a month but the benefits are invaluable.

Emotional Intelligence – 10 Ways to Improve Your Self Awareness

Self awareness is the first step of emotional intelligence. It teaches how to identify your emotions and be aware of them, their triggers and their impact.

Emotional intelligence is the skill to be aware of, control and ultimately express emotions. The latest studies suggest that EQ (emotional intelligence quotient) is more important than IQ (intelligence quotient) for succeeding in work, life and having a better health in general. By mastering it, you could be aware not only of your own emotions (and therefore drivers), but also of the emotions of the people around you (and therefore guide them and in general benefit from the extra information).

Self-awareness is the first step (out of four) in improving your emotional intelligence. This skill allows you to spot your emotions as they arise (and not after their devastating effect). It also helps you to anticipate the upcoming emotional reaction by defining and being aware of the things that drive you towards those emotions.

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Personal Goals – The Theory of Dreams

Your personal goals are just one part of your dreams. Together with personal dreams, acquired dreams and divine dreams they form the window of dreams.

Setting your personal goals is very important for achieving success. First of all though, you need to understand what types of dreams exist. Only one type of dreams is called goals.

I must admit that I have never found this theory anywhere else. And I have never shared it with someone. I borrowed the visualization into four sections from Johari Windows, but that is everything borrowed.

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