Uncovering the Power of Self-Awareness to Drive Change
Jan 08, 2025
By Erin Merideth
"Until you bring your unconscious habits into awareness, they will control your actions, and you'll call it fate."
– Carl Jung
As the new year begins, many of us take a moment to reflect on our goals and aspirations. It's a time of fresh starts and renewed energy, and for many workers, it's an opportunity to evaluate how we approach our work. Are there habits holding us back? Are we truly aligned with our goals or simply moving through the motions? Doing things differently at work this year could be the key to improving your professional results and overall work-life balance. To create meaningful change, we must start with self-awareness—the foundation for growth and transformation.
In today's high-stress work environment, it's easy to fall into patterns that feel productive but ultimately prevent us from reaching our goals. We often confuse being busy with being effective, filling our days with endless meetings, responding to emails, or tackling small, urgent tasks that give us a fleeting sense of accomplishment. These activities may feel important at the moment, but they often distract us from the deeper, more strategic work that drives real progress. Over time, these habits can become so ingrained that we lose sight of our long-term objectives, leaving us feeling unfulfilled and wondering why our efforts aren't yielding the desired results. Recognizing and breaking free from these patterns requires self-awareness and intentional effort. Still, it's a critical step toward achieving meaningful success and creating a more balanced, focused approach to work.
Unlearning outdated or unhealthy work habits starts with self-awareness—the key to unlocking your potential and creating meaningful change. At its core, self-awareness allows you to step back and examine the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that shape your daily actions. It's about understanding what you do and why you do it. Perhaps you procrastinate on big projects, say "yes" to every request, or prioritize immediate tasks over long-term goals. These patterns, often unconscious, can keep you stuck in a cycle of frustration where your actions don't align with your aspirations.
To achieve different results, you must first uncover the hidden drivers of your behavior. Are you avoiding a challenging task because of self-doubt? Are you overcommitting because you fear disappointing others? By identifying these underlying motivations, you gain the power to break free from unhelpful habits and make intentional choices. This deep understanding bridges the gap between setting goals and achieving them. It transforms goals from abstract ideas into actionable plans grounded in awareness and purpose. Without self-awareness, even the most ambitious goals can feel out of reach, as you're likely to repeat the same patterns that have held you back. But with it, you gain clarity, focus, and the ability to align your daily actions with your long-term vision, opening the door to sustainable growth and success.
How a Chemical Engineer Used Self-Awareness to Drive Career Growth
Take the example of one of my clients, a chemical engineer specializing in sustainability. Eager to advance her career, she set her sights on a promotion but struggled to gain traction. A pattern emerged as we dug deeper into her situation: promotions in her organization typically went to employees who delivered on high-profile projects. Despite being assigned one such project, she wasn't making significant progress.
Instead, she dedicated much of her time to solving problems for her colleagues—tasks she found fulfilling and enjoyable. However, these activities weren't aligned with her promotion goal. Solving others' issues gave her a sense of immediate satisfaction but distracted her from focusing on what truly mattered to her career growth.
By tracking her time and activities, we identified that this habit of prioritizing problem-solving over project work was a deeply ingrained behavior. It was a "shiny object" that pulled her away from her goals. Together, we worked on a plan to balance her natural preferences with the demands of her high-profile project:
- Time-blocking for focused work: She set aside dedicated weekly hours to work exclusively on her project.
- Establishing boundaries: She learned to politely decline non-essential requests for help and redirect those inquiries to others.
- Prioritization techniques: She outlined her key deliverables each week to ensure alignment with her goals.
Over time, this approach helped her reallocate her energy toward high-impact tasks while still leaving space for occasional problem-solving. As a result, she gained recognition for her work on the project and positioned herself as a strong candidate for promotion.
This example highlights the transformative power of self-awareness in recognizing what's pulling us off course. Once we identify and address these "shiny objects," we can redirect our efforts toward meaningful progress and new opportunities.
Understanding Self-Awareness: The Key to Personal and Professional Growth
Self-awareness is the ability to recognize and understand your own emotions, thoughts, and behaviors and how they influence your actions and interactions with others. It involves noticing what drives you—consciously and unconsciously—and taking intentional steps to align your actions with your goals and values.
Think of it as putting on a detective hat to investigate your own habits and patterns. You're solving the mystery of why you're not achieving your professional goals.
Investigating Your Habits: A Path to Self-Awareness
Your goal is to complete a high-profile project that could significantly advance your career, but progress has stalled. As your own detective, you start asking key questions:
What am I thinking?
- "This other task seems more urgent right now," or "I'll get to it later when I have more time." These thoughts reveal a tendency to procrastinate or undervalue the importance of the project.
What am I acting on?
- You're spending time responding to emails, helping colleagues with their work, attending meetings, or tackling easier, low-stakes tasks instead of focusing on the project.
What am I not acting on?
- You're not blocking time to work on the project, breaking it into manageable steps, or seeking support to overcome challenges.
Through this investigation, you might uncover a pattern: a habit of prioritizing immediate, lower-stakes tasks over long-term, high-impact goals. This behavior often stems from fears, uncertainty about the project, or simply reacting to daily demands instead of proactively managing your time.
Transforming Insights Into Meaningful Actions
Once you've identified the issue, the next step is to reframe your thinking and adjust your actions:
Reframe Your Thinking
View the high-profile project not as daunting but as a critical opportunity for personal and professional growth. Replace procrastination thoughts with affirmations like, "Delivering on this project will position me for future opportunities and demonstrate my value."
Adjust Your Actions
- Schedule Focused Work Sessions: Block uninterrupted time in your calendar and treat these sessions as immovable appointments.
- Break It Down: Divide the project into smaller, actionable steps to make it less overwhelming and more manageable.
- Set Boundaries: Politely but firmly decline distractions, such as non-essential meetings or ad-hoc requests, and redirect your focus to your priorities.
- Track Progress: Use tools like checklists or project management software to track your accomplishments. Visual progress can be highly motivating.
- Seek Support: If needed, reach out to colleagues, mentors, or your manager for advice, resources, or collaboration.
Unlocking the Potential of Self-Awareness
Detective work on your habits doesn't just reveal what is happening—it uncovers why it's happening, unlocking the potential for meaningful change. Often, we go through our days on autopilot, unaware of the patterns and behaviors that may be quietly sabotaging our goals. Self-awareness shines a light on these patterns, allowing us to recognize them, understand their origins, and take conscious steps to realign our actions with our aspirations.
Take the example of another client who struggled with time management and felt perpetually overwhelmed by their workload. Despite working long hours and appearing productive to others, they fell behind on critical tasks and became increasingly stressed. By closely examining their daily habits, we uncovered the root cause: they were saying "yes" to every request that came their way. This client's willingness to help others stemmed from a desire to be seen as a team player and avoid disappointing colleagues. However, the constant stream of ad hoc tasks left them little time or energy to focus on their priorities. Without realizing it, they had created a cycle where external demands dictated their schedule, leaving their personal and professional goals on the back burner.
Once this pattern was brought to light, the client could see how their behavior contributed to their stress and lack of progress. This newfound awareness empowered them to make intentional changes, starting with setting clear boundaries. They began practicing a thoughtful pause before agreeing to new requests, asking themselves, "Does this align with my priorities?" and, "Do I truly have the capacity for this right now?"
Next, they worked on creating a schedule that reflected their goals. This included blocking out dedicated time for their most important projects and learning to delegate or politely decline non-essential tasks. They also implemented a weekly review process to assess their progress, adjust their priorities, and ensure they stay on track.
The transformation was remarkable. By prioritizing their work and setting boundaries, the client regained control of their time and experienced a significant reduction in stress. They began to make real progress toward their goals and felt a renewed sense of accomplishment and confidence in their abilities.
This example illustrates the profound power of self-awareness. It's not just about identifying what's going wrong—it's about understanding the deeper motivations and fears that drive our actions. When we bring these unconscious habits into awareness, we can make informed choices that align with our values and aspirations. Self-awareness becomes a compass, guiding us toward intentional living and meaningful success.
The beauty of this process is that it's not limited to time management. Whether breaking free from procrastination, overcoming self-doubt, or finding the courage to pursue a new opportunity, self-awareness is the first step in creating lasting change. It provides the clarity and insight needed to move from reacting to life's demands to proactively designing a life that reflects your true potential.
Achieving Lasting Results Through Self-Awareness
The beauty of self-awareness is that it creates lasting change. Once you've uncovered what's holding you back and made intentional adjustments, you develop a long-term ability to approach challenges proactively, prioritize effectively, and stay aligned with your values.
Self-awareness is the foundation for unlearning habits that no longer serve you. It empowers you to take control of your career trajectory, unlock new opportunities, and achieve meaningful, sustainable results.
Remember, like any good detective, your success lies in your ability to observe, analyze, and act on what you discover. The clues to success are already within you—self-awareness helps you see them.
Explore Additional Resources:
How to Increase Self-Awareness: 16 Activities & Tools (+PDF)
How To Increase Self-Awareness In The Workplace
30 New Year's Resolutions & Goals to Stick With for Work
Start the New Year with the Unlearning Work Community: The Archetype Lab
As you embrace self-awareness and set intentions for the new year, take the next step by joining the Unlearning Work Community: Archetype Lab. Connect with professionals who are redefining their careers, access exclusive tools, and discover strategies to turn insights into action.
📢 Make this year the one where you achieve meaningful, sustainable growth!
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About the Author
I'm Erin Merideth, a Leadership & Talent Strategy Expert dedicated to guiding senior executives and Centers of Excellence at S&P 100 companies to create innovative workforce development practices. With over 25 years of executive experience, I've had a front-row seat to large organizations' behind-the-scenes dynamics and unwritten rules. I've coached some of the world's top business leaders, helping them strategically reach their goals while maintaining balance in their lives. I understand what it's like to feel frustrated at work because I've been there too — making it to the top and learning countless lessons along the way. My approach is practical, rooted in empathy, and focused on helping you succeed at both work and life by making strategic, empowering decisions.
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