Why "awareness'' is critical to you achieving what you truly value
The word 'awareness' has come to my attention recently and in fact the more I think about it the more I am beginning to appreciate the importance and benefit of paying attention to what it actually means. The context in which I want to approach 'awareness' is that of recognizing where you are today, where you want to be in the future and ensuring you are undertaking the correct actions to make that happen - and not get lost in the complexities every day life brings. Some might even want to call this 'self awareness' but what I'm talking about isn't really about being aware of your identity...it more about being aware of your actions and are they congruent to your goals.
Why do I choose to write about this today? Well it's been on my mind for a while and I've come to the conclusion that whilst many of us have goals, or seeing as we're at the start of 2009, perhaps a resolution I would predict no many of us know how to achieve that goal, whether it is the right one for them considering their current position or whether knowing what it would take to achieve the goal be prepared to undertake the commitment. Such as saying you will go to the gym 4 times a week for an hour when your current schedule would only allow 2 or by saying you'll save 25% of your income when your budget is tight at 15% savings limit - these are all good goals but there are non-considered hurdles in between to take care of. You might say "Daryl, but I'll just clear my schedule or ask for a pay rise...this will take care of those hurdles". Great, but what is the cost of clearing your schedule and what do you have to do to ensure the pay rise?
From my perspective the importance of awareness is that to clearly understand what is probable, possible and not possible at any point in time and to focus on the first two to enable the latter to be achieved as well. Being aware will prevent you from wasting time, money or emotion on actions that are not going to permit you to achieve your goals and may perhaps take you further away. It is also of great importance to be aware of what those goals mean to you...even if you do achieve it then what? If you 'just go' to the gym 4 times a week then what? If you save 25% of your salary what does that mean for you? If you get promoted in your work what position does that put you in?
Being aware is critical in career and business management - particularly at the early stages of each. Pretty much everyone I know is excited during the interview stage of a job and even more so when the job is offered. However if that job does not turn out right then only a short time later that excitement is replaced by disappointment. Same goes with a business, where everything in the startup phase is exciting but the reality hits home once you are running the business. Being aware will allow you to make better informed and objective decisions which should create more optimal results for you.
So my advice is do not live life on automatic. Achieve a state of awareness of where you are, why you are where you are and where you want to go. Ensure that you are taking the necessary steps to head in the direction you want to go and if you remember one thing, don't assume everything will just work out. You need to take control.
Labels: awareness, career management, entrepreneurs, goal setting, life management, personal values, self awareness, self control

