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If you were asked you the question, “How much do you know yourself?”, I am pretty sure your answer will be nothing shy of “I know myself, very well”.

Self-awareness - the process of understanding who you are - is our main subject for this blog.

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What is self-awareness

What do you think self-awareness is?

Some quick guesses: self-awareness is knowing your values, your passion, the things you like, your beliefs and the kind of person you are. If you guessed any of the above, you’re not far from the truth, you just need to draw yourself a little bit closer to it.This is how we define self-awareness in AIESEC. Self-awareness is knowing (or the ability to know ) your strengths and weaknesses, in order to use them to your own advantage.

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What makes you shine, what makes you shrink?

This is why you should be self-aware.Self-awareness is the pivot of emotional intelligence and decision making. Knowing who you are, your strengths and flaws is your key to making tactful and intelligent decision. It is the only way to choose the right direction for yourself, and the path that suits you best. Self-awareness is the most important trait of good leadership- knowing yourself ensures you’re being yourself, and not comparing yourself with or trying to imitate someone else.

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The magic about knowing yourself

If you want to make smart decisions for your life, and do exactly what suits your personality, then say a hearty good-bye to the days where you only acknowledge your strengths- your weaknesses are part of who you are, you have to acknowledge and own them.But do not make this mistake.

Self-awareness is not positive thinking, it is the reality of who you are. Your weaknesses are not for you to worry about, they are who you are. Do not make the mistake of focusing on them or attempting to turn them into strengths. Instead focus on your strengths and build from there. Don't fight your weaknesses just ignore them.

Here is the trick, the more you know yourself and build your self-awareness, the better your decision making ability, and the better a leader you become.

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How do you build your self-awareness?

You start by being really honest with yourself. If you believe you’re honest with yourself enough, then do the following

• Acknowledge your values: your values help you decide, they determine what you do and what you do not do. Make a list of all your values. Now take a seat and go through those values, while asking yourself this very important question, “am I still living by these values?”.
• Focus on your strengths, and let your weaknesses be: don’t really know what your strengths are, or think you might not have all listed? Ask your close friends what they think your strengths and weaknesses are, add them to your list. Now focus on your strengths, and forget about your weaknesses.
• Know and live your passion: what would you love to do all your life, if you had all you needed? Those are your passions, get them clear and chase them.
• It’s ‘gonna’ be hard, but you just ‘gotta’ leave that your comfort zone: you discover more about yourself when you are placed in the spotlight; when you have to make a decision, overcome a challenge and do something you have not done before. Leaving your comfort zone is how you do this. And travelling abroad is an easy and effective way to do this.

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AIESEC is on platform to discover Self-awareness

Want to know yourself better by overcoming challenges in a foreign environment? That’s what AIESEC Global Volunteer (GV) is all about.Knowing yourself is your first step in truly understanding the world, and Global Volunteer is your opportunity to become a better you, a more effective leader and a useful citizen of the world. We have made it easy for you by offering you amazing opportunities all over the world to become the best version of yourself that you can possibly be. What are you waiting for. Sign up on www.aiesec.org