Quotes About Self-awareness

Temos quatro opções quando escutamos uma mensagem difícil: 1. Culpar a nós mesmos; 2. Culpar os outros; 3. Perceber nossos próprios sentimentos e necessidades; 4. Perceber os sentimentos e necessidades dos outros.

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. For as you judge others, so you will yourselves be judged

Most of us grew up speaking a language that encourages us to label, compare, demand, and pronounce judgments rather than to be aware of what we are feeling and needing.

The use of the common expression "have to", as in "There are some things you have to do, whether you like it or not," illustrates how personal responsibility for our actions can be obscured in speech. The phrase "makes one feel", as in "You make me feel guilty," is another example of how language facilitates denial of personal responsibility for own feelings and thoughts.

Likewise, if we find ourselves unable or unwilling to empathize despite our efforts, it is usually a sign that we are too starved for empathy to be able to offer it to others. Sometimes, if we openly acknowledge that our own distress is preventing us from responding empathically, the other person may come through with the empathy we need.

When I behaved in the way which I now regret, what need of mine was I trying to meet?

When critical self-concepts prevent us from seeing the beauty in ourselves, we lose connection with the divine energy that is our source.

Note the difference between the following expressions of disappointment: Example 1 A: "You disappointed me by not coming over last evening." B: "I was disappointed when you didn't come over, because I wanted to talk over some things that were bothering me." Speaker A attributes responsibility for his disappointment solely to another person's action. Speaker B traces his feeling of disappointment to his own unfulfilled desire.

When we speak a language that denies choice, we forfeit the life in ourselves for a robotlike mentality that disconnects us from our own core.

Assim, quando fazemos algo pouco enaltecedor, nosso desafio é nos autoavaliarmos a cada momento, de modo que nos inspiremos a mudar (1) na direção em que gostaríamos de ir e (2) por respeito e compaixão com nós mesmos, em vez de por ódio, culpa ou vergonha.

We are dangerous when we are not conscious of our responsibility for how we behave, think, and feel.

Analyses of others are actually expressions of our own needs and values.

When we are in contact with our feelings and needs, we humans no longer make good slaves and underlings.

We're accompanied by an internal play-by-play announcer who is forever proclaiming the way things supposedly are and should be in our game of life. This announcer believes it's being helpful, but it doesn't realize the commentaries are ruining the game. Not only is it covering over the real action, but it's setting us up for disappointment, since the game itself rarely matches what's supposed to be happening.

We can change not only our behavior but how we define ourselves. When we put ourselves in a box marked "That's not me," we ensure that we'll never get out of it.

Successful people, however, believe there is always a link between what they have done and how far they have come—even when no link exists. It's delusional, but it is also empowering.

One of the greatest mistakes of successful people is the assumption, "I am successful. I behave this way. Therefore, I must be successful because I behave this way!" The challenge is to make them see that sometimes they are successful in spite of this behavior.

The next time you start to speak out of anger, look in the mirror. In every case, you'll find that the root of your rage is not "out there" but "in here.

Peter Drucker famously said, "Half the leaders I have met don't need to learn what to do. They need to learn what to stop.

But for some reason, many people enjoy living in the past, especially if going back there lets them blame someone else for anything that's gone wrong in their lives. That's when clinging to the past becomes an interpersonal problem. We use the past as a weapon against others.

If she wants to be a great leader, she will need to "make peace" with watching what she says and observing how she acts—for the rest of her career.

We also cling to the past as a way of contrasting it with the present—usually to highlight something positive about ourselves at the expense of someone else. Do you ever find yourself beginning a long self-serving story with the phrase, "When I was your age . . ."?

The moral: there's never anyone in the other boat. We are always screaming at an empty vessel. An empty boat isn't targeting us. And neither are all the people creating the sour notes in the soundtrack of our day.

Being smart turns people on. Announcing how smart you are turns them off.