Consciousness of Self

PowerPoint Definition: Consciousness of self requires an awareness of personal beliefs, values, attitudes, and emotions. Self-awareness, conscious mindfulness, introspection, and continual personal reflection are foundational elements of the leadership process.

My Own Definition: The ability to take a step back and critically assess your own actions, words, and effectiveness within any scenario. Consciousness of self is the ability to self reflect and then act on what you see to improve any situation.

Critique of Pure Interest

So What? My experiences... At the beginning of college, I would say that this was probably a weakness. After all, life is a heck of a lot easier if you just tell yourself everything is going great. But, at some point, life is just going to hit you in the face. That happened to me my freshman year when I came in as a music and biochemistry major. "I can do it," I told myself. But I couldn't and was confronted with the requirement to self reflect.

Now What? My reflection... I now make this part of my routine. Every night while I lie in bed, I ask myself "what did I do well today and where can I improve." Every morning as I'm in the shower, I run through the day and set expectations. This requires me to not only set goals but critically reflect on myself everyday. While I used to find this hard, it is now an everyday thing that is improving my ability to lead. I start fresh everyday instead of piling up expectations without a frequent check. 

As a TA for freshman biology, I even send out a mid-semester and end of semester survey to all of my students. This forces me to be frequently conscious of how I'm doing in that role. Instead of lying to myself about how awesome I may be, this requires me to see the truth. Maybe I'm being to sarcastic? Maybe I need to spend more time with a particular group of students? Self reflection is good. It's a chance to be honest with yourself and improve.