If you have to describe yourself, how would it be?
This is a good question that we should make to ourselves from time to time. The reason behind this topic is your awareness regarding your own behaviours, personality, and social interactions. Everybody has a self-image that in most cases represent only how we see ourselves and not necessarily how we really are. Think about your appearance for example. If you have a high self-esteem, you probably see yourself more handsome/pretty than other people see you. If the self-esteem is lower, you probably see yourself less “beautiful” than you really are. Actually, appearance is not only what the eyes can see, but also how your personality and manners reflect on others. And this is, in my opinion, a more important aspect than the appearance itself.
Good character, honesty, reliability, these are qualities that everybody seeks in others. Your values, beliefs and the way you were raised are probably in your roots and define a good part of who you are.
Take a short break to think about yourself and try to see different perspectives of your own personality.
Are you friendly? How respectful to others are you? Are you judgmental? Responsible? Helpful? You can make many other questions and find out that the way you see yourself is generally more kind than maybe others can see. Another interesting experiment would be to ask your close friends and relatives about how they see you: 3 positive aspects and 2 points that they think you can improve. Of course, this is only a suggestion and you should know what is better for your life. However, I can tell you that feedbacks are really valuable when you are open to receive them, learn and grow. A good feedback can solve potential problems in the future, like for example a misunderstanding with a family member or an unexpected reaction from a work colleague.
Conversely, people are not always ready or open to evaluations (self or from feedbacks) and this is something that we should improve in the course of our lives. It also depends on cultural aspects and family relations, but the world is getting more and more connected and the more experiences you have (and feedbacks you receive), the more mature you will be.
Self-evaluation is an easy and important tool that we should use in our daily life. Many popular sayings derive from this, such as: “We have two ears to listen and one mouth to speak, so we should listen more and say less”, or “The wise man just talks at the right moment with the right words”. This personal awareness helps you to deal with external situations and interactions with others and understand their point of view, also helping in conducting meaningful discussions and achieving win-win agreements.
The better you know yourself, the better person you will become. And this is not only good for you but for everybody in your close circle of relations. The wheel of wisdom is bound to grow with your stronger link and maybe you can inspire and help others on this inconstant path of life.
I invite you to do what I suggest in the title of this article: If you have to describe yourself, how would it be?
Maybe you can make some notes now and return next year to re-evaluate how much you evolved and your level of self-awareness.
