Mind Fit and the 4 Global Strengths – No1 Awareness

Awareness“What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.”

(Abraham Maslow)

However, as we should know it’s far broader than just awareness of him/herself.

The key is how you do ‘awareness’ is what counts – we say do because you have to do something to be more aware of what is happening to you and around you.

 

The following is a short video about awareness. Take the test and see how you do.

Awareness – it’s easy to miss something you’re not looking for as the video message ends.

In a business setting lots of consequences occur as a result of not being aware. Here’s just one, fairly common example.

Awareness starts with ‘is it me?’  – The story of Penny 

Penny was a middle manager in her company and very vocal during the first day of the workshop programme.  She was highly intelligent and had a very broad base of knowledge in a variety of areas. She was always happy to speak out and give her opinion, and was keen to emphasise her intellectual abilities. She had a slight air of ‘knowing it all’ about her.

During the day, we noticed that some of her colleagues didn’t seem to be enjoying her interjections. By the end of the day, people were rolling their eyes whenever she spoke and one even let out a heavy sigh.  We tried to start a dialogue within the group and the man admitted that he found Penny’s persistent need to expound on every theory she had read about frustrating and controlling. Penny was visibly upset and came to see us after the day had ended.

Penny told us that she had had a troubled personal life for many years, and had undergone many different types of counselling and therapy in the hope of finding some inner peace.  She said that these endeavours hadn’t particularly helped, and in fact had left her more confused than ever, with a head full of facts, figures and theories about personal development. She resented the amount of money she had spent over the years, and wanted to feel that she had some knowledge to contribute. She also told us that academic achievement was highly prized in her family, whereas a more emotional, spontaneous attitude was frowned upon.

We thanked Penny for being so frank, and suggested that perhaps, on the second day, she should be a little freer to just take in what was happening around her, and not be so concerned with playing the ‘expert’ in the group.  Part of natural learning is intuitive and we can learn much from simply observing and listening to those around us. Penny took our advice, and the next day she was a much quieter presence. Over the next few weeks, with our support, Penny learned a greater sense of self-awareness and through personal effort succeeded in controlling her urge to intellectually dominate the people around her all the time. We cannot claim to have solved her personal issues, but she was certainly a more popular and trusted figure in the office, which had a direct impact on her happiness and productivity at work.

 

Is Penny’s story fairly common in your organization? If yes, what have you done about it?

Awareness is the first of the 4 Mind Fit Global Strengths Awareness, Control, Focus , Feedback.

Awareness – How aware are you?

Naturally only you can answer that if you want to. The choice to know more is therefore down to you.

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