An African proverb says, When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside can do you no harm.

Self-awareness is one of themost importantskills for success.How you behave and respond to external situations is governed byinternalmental processes. Self-awareness uncovers anydestructivethought-patterns and unhealthy habits. Thisleads to better decision-making and behavioral responses.

Here are 12 exercises for greater self-awareness:

Before acting on a decision, ask yourself Why? Follow up your response with another Why? And then a third. If you can find three good reasons to pursue something, youll have clarity and be more confident in your actions.

Being self-aware meansknowing your motivesand determining whether theyre reasonable.

The philosopherWittgensteinsaid, The limits of my language means the limits of my world.

Emotions create powerful physical and behavioral responses thatare more complex than happy or sad.Puttingyour feelings into words hasatherapeutic effecton your brain; if youre unable to articulate how you feel, that can create stress. Heres agreat listof feeling words to help withlabelingyour emotions. Increase your emotional vocabulary with one new word each day.

Related:Are You Emotionally Intelligent? Here's How to Know for Sure.

The ability to say no to yourself to put off short-term gratification for the long-term gain is an importantlife-skill. Like a muscle, it is strengthened with exercise. The more you practice saying no to small daily challenges, the better you can withstand major temptations.

There are plenty of daily temptations --social media, junk food, gossiping, Youtube. Make a goal of saying no to five different temptations each day.

A person without self-awareness runs on auto-pilot, and responds withknee-jerk reactions. Self-awareness allows you to assess situations objectively and rationally, without acting onbiasesand stereotypes.

Takea deep breath before you act,especially when a situation triggersanger or frustration. This gives you time to re-assess whether your response will be the best one.

Nobody is perfect. Being aware of your flaws, but failing to accept accountability, is leaving the job half-done. Were often critical of others, whileignorantof our own flaws. Self-awareness helps turn the mirror on ourselves and prevents hypocritical behavior.

Iteration and self-improvement only happens once you recognize a flaw. Create a habit of acknowledging yourmistakes, rather than making excuses.

There is non-stop commentary inour headsthatis not always helpful. A little bit ofnegative self-talkcan spiral into stress and depression.

Pay attention to the way you respond to your successes and failures do you pass off your achievements as luck? And crucify yourself after failures? Positive and negative feedback-loops will form in your mind based offhow you respondto successes and failures. Being tough on yourself needs to be balanced withself-compassion. Celebrate your wins, forgive your losses.

Related:How Talking to Yourself Can Help You Be More Successful

Watching yourself on video can be a cringeworthy experience, but awareness of your body language, posture, and mannerisms improvesyour confidence.

Slouching, or taking a low-power-pose increasescortisoland feeds lowself-esteem, while standing tall or taking a high-power-pose stimulates testosterone and improves your performance. Using hand gestures helps witharticulatingyour thoughts and affects howpeople respond to you.

Record a speech or presentation and evaluate your posture andhand gestures. Watch videos of skilled speakers and adopt their mannerisms to improve your own.

Taking an opposing view forces you to question yourassumptions. Your "default"beliefs and worldview are notalways reasonable; its healthy to argue against yourself and see how your views hold up.

And youll give your brain a good workout. Processing challenging information stimulates newneural connections.

Knowing your personality type allows you to maximizeyour strengths and manage your weaknesses. Understanding your strengths and talents can be the difference between a good choice, and agreatchoice. (Strengths are skills and knowledge that can be acquired, whiletalentsare innate).

Start with understanding where you fall on theintrovert/extrovert spectrum;know yourMyers-Briggstype; and thenconduct a personalSWOTanalysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats).

Keep ajournaland track your progress. How would you rate your current level of self-awareness out of ten? Think about how often you say regretful things; repeat bad habits; make absent-minded decisions; and have erraticthoughts.

Set regular goals, break big goals down into smaller milestones. Ask yourself at the end of each day, What did I do well today? And, How can I improve on this tomorrow?

We all have blind spots in our thinking patterns and behaviors. Asking for regularconstructive feedbackcuts through any self-deceitor one-dimensional views you might hold. But only ask people youd consider mentors those who understand you; whom you respect; and will tell you what you need to hear, not what youwantto hear.

Meditationis a foundational practice for improving self-awareness. To focus solely onyour breathingis to focus on a key internal process. Youll become aware of how your mind wanders, and get better at snapping out of distractions.

For beginners, start with ten minute sessions. Find a quiet place to sit, breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Count your breaths silently, pulling your mind back when it wanders. See how many breaths you can string together.

Related:Meditation Isn't Just For Hippies: Here is How it Can Help Entrepreneurs

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12 Self-Awareness Exercises That Fuel Success