Self awareness is the key to unlocking your full potential.

We can either discover our deepest motivations, deliberately through self evaluation or, instead float around, like an atom, unaware of our motivations and wait for success to fall in their path.

For those who believe in creating their own reality, the first step is self awareness. With concentrated effort and focus, and the right methods for self evaluation you’ll realise, with upmost clarity, the reasons behind your thoughts, words and actions.

Obligation

This derives from Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and refers to things like food, water, sleep and shelter which we need in order to simply survive. These can come from the government, other providers or ourselves.

Whilst in the west’s comfortable society, we may be less aware of this underlying objective, our senses are primitavly attuned and aware of it. We do, what we have to do, to survive, out of obligation to our needs and the needs of our dependants.

Passion

Do what you love and never work a day in your life. Passion is often the biggest and most powerful driver – it becomes an energy or a fuel in itself. Find the people and things that light the fire inside of you and run towards that light.

Love

I’m not intending to open up the “altruism debate” here but we are, to varying degrees, motivated by a desire to support, love and give to those we care most about. Whether it be financial or emotional support, these people drive us to get up in the early hours of the morning, drive through the rain and slog all day at work – just to see a smile on their face.

Childhood beliefs

Sigmund Freud believes that we all create an idea of who we are as people from a very young age. It can be as simple as courageous,  honest, successful or as specific as the type of career you desire. Whatever it may be – this childhood identity doesn’t escape us when we become adults. Freud’s theory is premised on the idea, that if we stray from this childhood image of ourselves, we become depressed, whereas those who live in accordance with their childhood image live fulfilled lives.

Pride

Pride is a sense of duty which derives from our ego. However ego is not all negative, it drives us to complete tasks to the best of our ability because we know we are worth it. We have a sense of self, a high standard, that we won’t compromise.

We study to better ourselves and our families. We work to put food on the table. The fruits of those efforts become our work products and client satisfaction. We take pride in what we do. We strive for success.

Vice

These are motives which disguise themselves as being in our best interest, often masked as needs, when in fact, they merely offer temporary pleasure and long-term pain. Vices are purely selfish. They don’t help us. They are the actions we should avoid. Yet we are human and like the kicks of excitement a vice can bring. Who would voluntarily choose a future outcome of long-lasting suffering in exchange for one night of fun? It’s important we understand and monitor our vices – self awareness is becoming aware of the good and the bad.