Self-awareness is your ability to observe and understand your identity.

It is the capability to become aware of your thoughts, feelings, and actions.

It is when you know why you do what you do and the motives behind it. Self-awareness is your understanding of your responses to events.

When you are able to stand apart and observe your moods and involvements in your life, you will become more accountable and responsible.

This will lead to self-discovery and then move you toward personal and spiritual growth.

The discovery of who you are and the person you have become will enable you to deal with challenges and stress.

This state is an inward experience.

You must put aside your time to examine and investigate your thoughts, opinions, attitudes and responses.

It will allow you to correct whatever that have troubled you in the past or what has not worked out.

The exploration of your internal world will astound you. You will discover what you never have realized about your uniqueness and capabilities.

Self-awareness involves communicating with your conscience.

This is done by asking hard questions and listening to your conscience for answers.

You may find it difficult to listen because of the clutter that is going around.

You need to have the determination and persistence to focus within.

Once you are able to maintain an understanding of yourself, you will understand others.

And you will build a healthy personality and relationship with others.

Self-knowledge is critical if you want to improve in any area of your life.

An understanding of yourself will lead you to question your assumptions.

Asking yourself hard questions will make you find the components of your experience. It will make you go back to the history from which the problems arise.

Will understanding your emotion and behavior stop you from repeating them?

Don't think so.

But, once you know why you think, feel and act the way you do, you can build better habits.

How do you improve on your self-awareness?

• Journal writing.

Take time of to capture the snapshots of the day. Write down your feelings and responses. Jot down your inner dialogs. Write down everything that you notice within and outside you.

• Pay attention to your inner dialogs.

Are you saying something out loud and then hears this small voice talking back at you. What is it saying?

• Watch your mental movies.

What is showing? Is it an "unresolved issue" that happened many years ago?

• Observe your behavior when you are under pressure.

What do you do? How do you talk to yourself outwardly and inwardly? Do you go into a rage?

• Study people.

Observe people's behaviors. Listen to the language and speech. Watch why they do what they do. Is there any trait that is useful to you and can be modeled? Are they doing something that you are not? Keep your eyes and ears open to new possibilities and learning.

• Relax.

Meditate. Pray. Keep calm. Connect with your deeper self. Reflect on your experiences and life events. Persist through the boredom of doing nothing. Listen to your inner guidance.

• Practice proper breathing.

Don't take your breathing for granted. Practice proper breathing skill. Send more oxygen to your brain to function better.

Proper thorough deep breathing is essential for your health and will affect the quality of your life.

Conscious breathing influences your autonomic nervous system and allows you to relax.

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