We are in a series of posts looking at how a lack of self-awareness can be holding you back in every area of your life. Today, we are going to look at the second of three ways you can gain that crucial self-awareness.
Yesterday, we looked at the tools to help you self-assess how you respond under pressure and what your strengths are. Today, I want you to ask 4 questions to someone you love. This is the most difficult and the scariest of the three ways to gain self-awareness. The results of the different tests you took yesterday can be kept to yourself and you can even disagree with the results. Going to someone you love and getting their feedback is a much more painful look in the mirror. But even though it’s painful, you still need to know the answers.
What do your loved ones wish you knew about yourself? Here is the interesting thing…we are scared of asking this question…but everyone who interacts with us already knows the answer to that question, except the one person who most needs to know and hear it the most…YOU. So why would you not want to know something that everyone else knows that’s keeping you from achieving your potential?
Don’t ask random strangers…ask those who love you the most and care about you the most. They will be gentle. Make sure you don’t get defensive. Just listen.
Here are 4 questions to get the conversation started:
-Describe a time when you thought, “I am so privileged to know you.”
-Describe a situation where you thought, “He/She is so blind I can’t believe it.”
-In what situation would you assume I am most likely not going to tell the truth?
-In what moments do you feel most confident that I will rise to the occasion and handle a situation well?
(I was first introduced to these questions by Dan Allender in Leading Character (Leadership Library)
If you’re really brave, ask 3 people to see if a pattern is emerging. Maybe you are a different person at home than at work. Maybe your home is great, but your work is what needs the work.
Everyone already has an opinion of you so why not ask for it? Don’t let fear keep you on a path that will ruin your true potential.
