Date: 6/9/2015

Title: SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS THROUGH SELF-AWARENESS – Part 3

By Jennifer Erickson

So what are “self-awareness” and “authenticity”? And, what do they have to do with success and happiness? Self-awareness is how cognizant we are of our own natural thinking talents (masters). Self- awareness is also how mindful we are of the areas where we don’t have a natural talent (blind spots).

This is different from strength and weaknesses. If we think in terms of strengths, then we think we should work/take classes/read books/etc. to “improve and grow”. Now, there is nothing wrong with wanting to improve and grow. But, it should be thought of from the perspective of building on natural talents.

If we think in terms of weaknesses, we think about those skills we don’t have. We picture those things we are “bad” at completing. We all have these. However, when we set up the situation from natural thinking talents, then those things which don’t fit as a natural talent become a blind spot. A blind spot is only a weakness, if my success/happiness depends on being good at it.

This is an important concept. A blind spot is only a weakness, if I set up a situation such that my success is dependent on this blind spot. Gosh, that sounds crazy! Who would do that?

We all do it. We do this by taking a job with a company which doesn’t share our values. This applies to whatever your values might be: achieving a work/life balance, making a product in a sustainable way, paying competitive wages, etc. We do it when we take on roles that don’t fit with our natural talents. To change this, we need to be authentic.

Authenticity means working from those master areas, not your blind spot areas. If I am true (authentic) to myself and my natural thinking talents, then I am satisfied, happy, and fit a definition of success.

To learn more about how to practice this understanding, contact Results Group, LLC at www.ResultsGroupLLC.com or 515-330-2866.