Self-awareness is an acquired trait

and requires a lot of effort.

Lately I’ve come across many people stressing the importance of being self-aware.

However, most were more concerned about others than themselves.

I was a bit surprised at first but upon contemplating, I figured out why this is the case.

It all comes down to one’s basic instinct of finding solace by seeing faults in others.

Because there are two common ways you can feel good about yourself:

• By focusing on your own qualities

• By discussing other’s faults (and secretly feeling good that you don’t have them)

Most of us do a bit of both.

Bu when it comes to self-awareness, we underestimate how much effort and thinking it requires.

This is because we do a lot of things without actively thinking about them.

For instance, you might be discussing with someone how your friends are always gossiping – without realizing that discussing this is an act of gossiping too.

Similarly, when we complain that somebody else lacks self-awareness, we are completely oblivious of the fact that we are no different. We just lack it in a different area of our life.

Ironically, thinking that you are self-aware while others are not, is often a sign of your lack of self-awareness. (Read that again.)

Monitoring other people is a waste of time because you could have utilized it reflecting on your own behavior and realizing how disconnected from reality your sense of awareness can be.

Moreover, finding faults in others doesn’t add any actual value to your own life apart from giving a temporary boost to your ego.

So, if you really care about self-awareness, the best person to start with is yourself.

And if you feel you don’t need it then you definitely do.

Keep learning – more about yourself than others!