Knowing Yourself and Dealing with Others, Summaries of Psychology

Download Knowing Yourself and Dealing with Others and more Summaries Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! Knowing Yourself and Dealing with Others An individual who is well-aware of his strengths and weaknesses is an empowered individual. If you are highly self-aware individual, you are more capable of being able to accept responsibility for your actions and more capable of being independent of the negative influences of others. Because you are more observant of yourself and your responses to certain situations, you can make smarter choices in life, has more control of your experiences, and can also realize the need to change negative patterns of behavior when needed. Knowing yourself well also allows you to be able to deal better with others and in the process, create more meaningful relationships. When you know who you are, you can openly communicate yourself and what you want to others. This will create better understanding between yourself and others, and consequently, a more satisfying relationship. Being accepting of your flaws and strengths makes it easier to reach compromises when needed because you are secure about yourself and does not feel that your self-concept is being threatened. Becoming self-aware includes learning to take responsibility for your actions instead of blaming others and the environment, which makes you clearly see other perspectives of an issue as well. Awareness of the self leads to a more conscious way of acting towards others, instead of passively interacting with them. This results in more empathy and compassion, a must in any healthy relationship. Your awareness of your emotional needs, behaviors, interaction patterns, and a better understanding of yourself as a relational being allows you to become more conscious of your interactions with others, as well as make healthy decisions that affect yourself and others around you. Steps to Self-Awareness Self-awareness is important at any stage in your life. Here are some ways to become more self-aware to be able to achieve success in relationships and other aspects of life. Ask yourself why. Before you act or decide on anything, it is always a good idea to know why you are going to do what you are about to do. Understanding the intentions behind your actions lets you to become more aware of your thought processes and will allow you to make smarter decisions. Delay gratification. Being able to control yourself by not quickly giving in to temptations allows you to practice saying no to negative influences that may affect you later on. This gives you a chance to strengthen your sense of self. Take feedback constructively. Learn to accept what others say about you and use it to improve yourself. Remember that self-awareness is a healthy balance between understanding yourself and how others see you. Let go of biases. Before you make any auto-pilot reactions to a situation, make sure you stop and think about the different sides of the situation. Question yourself and challenge yourself as to why you believe in such things. Be objective and re-assess your responses to others. Use tools to know yourself. Experts have come up with different ways for individuals to learn about their personality types, which are fortunately readily available to you online. Knowing where you stand in the Myers-Briggs personality Window, can give you a better idea of who you are. Reflect often. Taking time to think quietly through meditation or simple reflection will help you become more self-aware. Keep a journal to see how your thoughts and actions progress. Learn from the mistakes you have made, and always keep yourself in check. Holistic Development An adolescent is constantly changing. You may not be aware of this, but for every second that passes, your whole-body changes. These changes occur simultaneously and are never- ending. As adolescents mature, your social circles keep getting wider and wider. Your body begins to change. Your brain processes new ideas. Your faith and morals evolve as they are exposed to the realities of life. Your emotions change from simple feelings like being happy and sad into being ecstatic and melancholic. The totality or holism of a person is a constant source of mystery. It is ironic that in spite of the advances in Science, the human body and the self are still cloaked in mystery that is still waiting to be uncovered. Holism. General Jan C. Smuts, a statesman from South Africa, defined holism in 1926. He first made use of the term in his book Holism and Evolution. According to him, holism is the tendency in nature to form wholes which are greater than the sum of the parts through creative evolution. Kinds of Stress It is important to note that stress is not always bad. It is, however, only meant to be temporary. It is supposed to push you to respond to a stressor and then have that person back to your normal state. However, with the many factors that affect you, the stressors and stress and how we address and manage it now becomes a bit more complicated. Acute Stress. This is the most common and most recognizable kind of stress. Its nature is those of everyday situations that you encounter, making it very manageable. Acute stress is only short- term for it is your body’s immediate response to the demands and pressures of the recent past and the near future. Therefore, it cannot do long-term, extensive damage to you. It can be positive or negative, thrilling or exciting, again, depending on how you perceive the stressor to be. Episodic Acute Stress. Individuals who suffer from this kind of stress are those who experience acute stress very frequently. These people are usually impatient, always in a hurry, have very short tempers, and display high irritability and anxiety. Those who suffer episodic acute stress are usually the individuals who are either “worry warts” (who focus on the negative side of things; always foresee or expect something unfortunate to happen, and who pointlessly worry so much about the past and the future) or Type A personalities (those who are overly competitive; overly driven and highly aggressive individuals who have the incessant need to be in control of everything). Chronic Stress. This kind of stress is the most damaging of all for it is the stress that consumes you over a very long time unless you seek professional help right away. Chronic stress destroys your health and well-being and is manifested later on as physical illnesses or diseases that can cause death. People who suffer from it no longer seek for solutions or hope for a better disposition, as it is embedded.