Three Tools for Self Awareness, EQ for Sales Performance
Self Awareness is one of the most important aspects of emotional intelligence. “Emotional Intelligence” or EQ has been most famously written about by Daniel Goleman. By being more self aware you will increase your ability to function well in all aspects of life. For those in sales or who are entrepreneurs this aspect of EQ is very important. What can be noticed can be changed.
So what is self awareness? First of all a few things it’s not. Self awareness is not obsessing about your-self. It is not thinking about how you look or who hurt your feelings or what you want to do on Friday night. Those would be considered to be signs of emotional immaturity.
Self awareness allows us to notice not so much what we are thinking but how we think. By becoming self aware we can notice the patterns of thought. We begin to notice when we ruminate on things from the past over which we have no control. We will begin to see that we spend too much time worrying about the future. We can also begin to notice patterns of behavior that no longer help us in any way.
When I work with entrepreneurs and sales people we always begin by using this aspect of EQ – self awareness as part of the change process. Using hypnotherapy, NLP and coaching we can assist in changing the thoughts leading to any negative behaviors.
Three great ways to increase your self-awareness are:
- Practice some kind of meditative technique daily. You could use any form of meditation or learn self-hypnosis.
- Commit to a type of workout that increases self awareness- use yoga, tai chi or some other form of exercise that creates a mental zone.
- Write things down- When you notice the thoughts or a pattern of thinking arising, write down what you notice. Journaling can be a very helpful tool.
By using these self awareness techniques, you will begin to notice things that previously remained below the conscious level of your awareness. When you become more self aware you will more easily change habits and behaviors that have been holding you back. As you develop more self awareness you will also feel more in control and confident in all aspects of your life.