When was the last time you sat with your emotions? Maybe you never have? Do you approach your emotions with curiosity?
Self-awareness is about taking the time to sit with one's emotions, label them, understand each one's meaning, and then take a step further to understand how they impact behavior.
Emotions are what makes humans human, and emotions do have a place at work. The importance of self-awareness is recognizing your emotions as they arise and, instead of suppressing or bottling them up (which can lead to further issues) you label them and move forward with your emotions in a mindful way.
Sitting with one's emotions allows an individual the opportunity to stop and think about the underlying theme and if it accurately reflects how that person is feeling. For example, you may say "I am angry" when you are feeling disappointment or shame. Dr. Mark Brackett, Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, explains that "the root cause of anger is injustice, disappointment is unmet expectations, jealousy is something you care about is going to be taken away from you, fear is impending danger, while joy is about achieving a goal."
For self-awareness skill development, it is important to think about the underlying theme or root cause of the emotion.
