In working with high school teens and teams in corporations, my leadership and team building sessions start with questions designed to explore the need for self-awareness.

What does it mean to be self-aware?
How do you know if someone is self-aware?
What impact does it make if a person is or isn’t self-aware?

The answers are thoughtful and always very conclusive – being self-aware is important for achievement as a team member and essential for effective leadership. Not being self-aware, well that is just plain annoying to be around!

Tasha Eurich, the author of Insight, says it best, “Self-awareness is the secret ingredient for success in the 21st century. People who understand who they are—and how they’re seen—make smarter choices, build better relationships, enjoy more successful careers, and live better lives.”

For over 20 years I have been in the business of helping people increase their self-awareness using a myriad of personality tools. I have used colors, numbers, and letters to help decode what makes us tick and to help us reflect and realize not only our stressors and everyday behavior, but most importantly, our gifts to the world.

Doing the research for Building Your Brilliance: Move from Stressful Survival to Joyful Living, renewed my conviction and passion to help people uncover, claim, and celebrate their unique gifts.

Clear on the goal – clear on you!

My book is a result of my life’s journey and work. It’s from my experience of working with individuals who happen to find themselves caught in a place that isn’t serving them, or other’s around them, well. They usually need assistance getting from point A to point B.

First stop, know where you want to go.

Second, stop on that journey, you got it! Self-Awareness. Once you are clear on your gifts, passions, skills, and values, you often need to go back and refine the goal.

Understanding others and knowing YOU equals success

I am learning that successful marketing also begins with self-awareness. Yes, marketing. In 20 years of business, I have hired marketing consultants, sales coaches, and read probably over 20 books, all in the hopes of learning how to get the word out on how my services will provide value and benefit my clients. Starting with “who are my customers” helped refine my message. However, once I was clear on who I helped, I needed to go back to me and make sure that my gifts would provide the value and benefit they needed for their success. I realized that I couldn’t bring my gifts to anyone unless I claimed them and was confident in their superpowers. Yes, superpowers!

As America Ferrera, the actress best known for playing the role of Betty Suarez on the television sitcom Ugly Betty explains on her TED2019, “My identity is not an obstacle — it’s my superpower.”

Self-awareness is not a one and done

To make sure you bring a positive difference and contribution to this world, you need to be clear on your identity: your gifts, skills, passions, values, personality and YOU. The movie Whitney documents the life of superstar Whitney Houston, it powerfully tells the story of the rise and fall of the superstar. After her untimely death, it was soberingly shared that “Whitney never knew who she was.”

Wait. WHAT?

How could Whitney Houston not know who SHE was?

Tasha Eurich explains, “In my team’s multi-year research program on self-awareness, we learned that even though most of us think we’re self-aware, this skill is in remarkably short supply.”

Knowing who you are, knowing your unique and precious identity is no easy task. A personality assessment provides a start, but it is not the end. We are more than just extraverted or introverted and it’s unfortunate to be reduced to a few personality traits. There is much more to you than that! We have all walked our own journeys and run into roadblocks and trials.

I encourage you to spend time on YOU in reflection and discovery on who you are at a deeper level, a level beyond the color, letter, or personality trait. What gifts are you bringing to the world? Which are you denying the world with your lack of knowledge? Please, please don’t cheat us any longer without showing up with your superpowers.

Stay tuned for my next blog with “how to” tips of self-discovery.

Here’s to the brilliance of YOU!

I can’t wait to see it shine in the world.