To be self-aware means to have a better overall understanding of who you are, what motivates you, your bad habits, and your likes and dislikes. Self awareness is incredibly important. Being self aware allows you to feel comfortable in your own skin. However, being too self-aware is also a problem.
Self Awareness Theory proposes the idea that you are not your thoughts, but a separate entity observing your thoughts. This means that you go about your day being yourself: acting, feeling, and thinking how you normally do. All of our thoughts, feelings and actions are shaped by our life experiences. When you begin to self-evaluate, you question whether or not your feelings, thoughts, and actions align with your standards and values. This leads to overthinking.
Societal expectations and the pressure of others have the power to alter our standards and values. So, when we expose ourselves to the outside world, self-evaluating becomes a lot harder. You begin to question your thoughts, feelings, and actions. After being interviewed, people typically over think their answers. They question whether or not what they said was appropriate, or whether it was correct. When step outside of who we are and, seeds of doubt can easily be planted, leading us to constantly worry over the thoughts, opinions, and perceptions of others.
There is not one single person who is exactly like you. No one shares the exact same values, thoughts, and feelings. Instead of being self-aware to the point that you are critical, we should strive to be completely authentic.
Being authentic is about being comfortable with who you are. After an interview, a truly authentic person wouldn’t question whether or not the person asking the questions liked them or agreed with them. Instead, the authentic person would think, “I crushed that interview. I answered every question in total transparency and each of my answers reflects who I am as a person”.
Being authentic is important. It’s the courage to be yourself in a world that criticizes originality.