See Through Scotomas!

I was getting my nails done yesterday and got into a discussion on life and living with Renee, who does my nails. This is no unusual situation as Renee and I often wax philosophical during our once a month nail time together. But for some reason our discussion struck a self-reflective chord yesterday.

I walked away… nails brightly polished, thinking about my own personal scotomas or blind spots. I cleared the clutter in my life this week, but how about the hidden clutter in my mind!?

I know there are things that I know about myself. But as with the iceberg metaphor from psychology 101, there is a vast area that lies unseen beneath the surface of consciousness. Others seem to know these things about us, but we ourselves often remain clueless about many of our own behaviors.

Leadership demands self-awareness and self-awareness takes both intention and attention. You have to intend to see yourself the way others see you. So here are 5 things you (and I) can do each day to bring some of those blind spots into view:

1. Start with intention. Intend to increase your awareness of your own blind spots! Intention includes determination and resolve. Resolve to become more aware of yourself, your words and behavior every day.
2. Stop blaming others or anything outside of yourself. Take personal responsibility for what shows up in your life today.
3. Pay attention to the cues that others send during your interactions with them. People often send us signals, yet we remain clueless. Read the clues – body language and facial expressions speak volumes.
4. Review your day. Take 5 at the end of each day and review the results. Check your feelings; they will clue you in to what kind of a day you had. Then ask yourself what you can do tomorrow to improve!
5. Renew yourself each morning. Do your toothbrush visualization of a great day. See yourself enacting the improvement you promised you would make at the end of yesterday.

Aloha for now from the beautiful islands of Hawaii! Trinidad