Part of 66 day challenge

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Picture credit - ​mishfit
Day 27 - Self-Awareness Skill
6 May 2020
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Prabodh Sirur
sirurp@gmail.com
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My learning for the day
Today I want to share my learning about ​Imposter Syndrome​.
And about how ​daily journaling​ helps us improve our self-awareness.
Loved this line from ​Tasha Eurich​ - “....our study shows that ​95% of people
think they're self-aware​ but the real number is closer to 10% to 15%. It
means that on a good day, 80% of us are lying to ourselves about ourselves..”
Imposter syndrome
Impostor (one who pretends to be someone else) syndrome is an internal
experience of ​believing that you are not as good as others perceive​ you
to be. It is a psychological pattern in which one doubts one's
accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as
a "fraud".
Many of those who feel ​“I am not good enough”​ attribute their
achievements to some mysterious fluke or luck.
Many of us remember “What I did not achieve” ​more than ​“What I achieved”.
Some common signs​ that show how this syndrome manifests (Thanks ​Arlin
Cuncic​) -
● Inability to realistically assess your competence and skills
● Fear that you won't live up to expectations
● Attributing your success to external factors
● Sabotaging your own success
● Berating your performance
● Setting very challenging goals and feeling disappointed when you fall
short
Daily journaling to improve self awareness
Why should​ daily journaling (writing a diary) improve self awareness?
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Self-Awareness is seeing yourself ‘​objectively’​ - ​daily journaling provides you
data​ so that you can see yourself objectively.
As a bonus, there are a number of additional transformative advantages as
you can see below.
Stephen Warley​ interviewed 500+ people who got themselves unstuck and
transformed their lives.
For his question “What was one key action you recommend to someone to
get unstuck?”, over half of these ‘transformed’ folks said, “​Writing a daily
journal​.”
Robin Sharma​, one of the top 5 leadership experts and best known for his
book The Monk who sold his Ferrari, says - “Keeping a daily journal has not
only changed my life – it saved it.”
You might be wondering, “​What​ exactly ​should​ ​I write​ in my daily journal?” -
Google for it and you will get more than 50 million sites explaining what to
write in your daily journal.
Let me confess​, I haven’t practiced daily journaling with rigor.
But I am going to give it a try from today.
This is what I am planning to journal (this is my own style. It is not supported
by any scientific finding).
1. Thoughts/ actions that enhanced my ​self esteem
2. Creative ideas​ that I implemented during the day
3. Actions that demonstrated my ​self confidence
4. Actions that demonstrated my ​love​ for myself and for everything
around me
5. Actions of ​listening​ to others and the ​words​ that I spoke to inspire/
console others
Here are some articles about - what to write in the daily journals -
How To Journal For Self-Awareness
59 Journaling Ideas: What to Write About in a Daily Journal
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Keeping a Daily Journal Can Give You Tremendous Power
How To Write In Your Journal To Improve Yourself and Achieve Your Goals
What is Self-Awareness Skill?
Self-Awareness is the ability to see yourself clearly and objectively through
reflection and introspection
How to improve this Skill?
Set a goal to ​become a go-to person​ by mastering the art and science of
Self-Awareness​.
Follow the ​LAST model​ to build your personal brand as a Guru of ​Self-Awareness​.
1. Learn​ - Assign time to study different frameworks/ models/ techniques
about ​Self-Awareness
2. Apply​ -
a. Master a framework/ model that you like
b. Find opportunities to use the selected method/ template
c. Maintain record/ process flow of every important ​Self-Awareness
activity you did
d. Maintain notes of your thoughts/ insights/ failures/ challenges…. to be
used for sharing/ training others
3. Share​ - Share the insights captured in step 2 above in a planned manner
(social media posts, blogs, videos, study notes…)
4. Train​ - Train others so that they benefits from your efforts
Purpose of this document
I took a 66 day challenge​ to study Life Skills last year (10 April 2019). To my
astonishment, I succeeded in studying for 66 days one skill a day.
I had four objectives -
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- to strengthen my mind to face the daily challenges
- to use these skills in my worklife for a better performance,
- tp use these skills in my personal life for enriching my relationships,
- to open new possibilities to surprise myself
This is my next 66 day challenge​ (from 10 April 2020) - To share my Life Skills
learning with my social media friends.
I pray that my toil helps you in your success journey.
What are Life Skills?
UNICEF​ defines Life skills as - ​psychosocial abilities​ for adaptive and positive
behaviour that enable individuals ​to deal effectively with the demands and
challenges of everyday life​. They are loosely grouped into three broad categories
of skills
- cognitive skills​ for analyzing and using information,
- personal skills​ for developing personal agency and managing oneself,
- inter-personal skills​ for communicating and interacting effectively with
others.
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Which LifeSkills are covered?
The ​World Health Organisation​ identified these basic areas of life skills that are
relevant across cultures:
1. Decision-making
2. Problem-solving
3. Creative thinking
4. Critical thinking
5. Communication
6. Interpersonal skills
7. Self-awareness
8. Empathy
9. Coping with emotions
10.Coping with stress.
Some trivia
‘Life skills’ was never part of the school curriculum. WHO/ UNESCO mandated
academia to teach these skills in all schools across the globe in 1993.
Different countries educate their children in these skills with different objectives
- Zimbabwe and Thailand - prevention of HIV/AIDS
- Mexico - prevention of adolescent pregnancy
- United Kingdom - child abuse prevention
- USA - prevention of substance abuse and violence
- South Africa and Colombia - positive socialization of children.
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