Awareness is the first step to change

It’s very difficult to change what you’re unaware of. The act of bringing awareness to ourselves creates possibilities that didn’t exist beforehand.

Only through this awareness can we begin to reflect on how we might want to live differently. This is done by asking a simple question: Does this behavior help me become the type of person I wish to be?

When we begin to see each action as a vote, it helps us answer another question: Does this habit cast a vote for or against my desired identity?

Through our awareness we pave the way for meaningful change, and it starts with a simple act of love. If we wish to love ourselves, we must pay attention.

If we remain unaware of our Upper Limit (or continue arguing in favor of it), it will continue to be a threshold we are unable to circumvent. We will become fleas trapped in a jar, afraid of hitting a ceiling that isn’t there.

The first step to overcoming our Upper Limit is being aware of it. We can’t change what we’re unaware of.

Related Notes:

• 1.1 📗 Arguing for your limits allows you not to change because confronting them means asking yourself who you’d be without them: Awareness helps us recognize when we’re arguing for limitations so we can stop doing it
• [[1.1a 📗 We unconsciously limit our success, happiness, and satisfaction]]: Awareness is the first step to recognizing our unconscious limiting patterns
• Habit Feedback Loop: Once aware that something needs to change, the feedback loop shows how we respond (responsibility is the ability to respond)
• [[Repetition Compulsion]]: We’re bound to repeat what we’re unaware of - awareness breaks the cycle
• [[6.1 📗 Conditioning is the patterns, behaviors, and emotional responses you absorbed from your environment]] - the key to overcoming your conditioning is to raise your awareness of it.

[[Keywords]]: #keyword/how-do-you-develop-mindfulness Reference: Atomic Habits by James Clear, The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks

“My advice is that predicting the future is impossible, so the best thing you can do is try to describe the present accurately.” (source)