Expanding Awareness for Conscious Decision-Making
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Explore ways your awareness affects your decision-making and the your flow. Gain insight on the degree to which you're aware, issues of low awareness, and the great benefits of heightened awareness and living consciously.
Conscious Awareness
Being far more aware of what’s going on around and within us provides valuable insights that can dramatically improve how we flow through life. This heightened awareness brings fresh perspectives, increased clarity, and wisdom, enabling us to make sound choices while significantly reducing our stress levels. But how aware do we need to be to foster truly conscious personal growth?
Conscious Awareness
Let’s explore this concept from three vantage points:
1. Choosing from a fairly unconscious state
2. Choosing from a somewhat aware but not yet all that conscious state
3. Choosing as one who embodies higher-functioning consciousness awareness
A Common Life Scenario
Let's say we've set personal development goals that involve adopting a healthier lifestyle. It takes a commitment and the will to see it through consistently to achieve our goals. We’re on a roll for a few weeks, but then we find ourselves challenged: perhaps we get some bad news, or we don’t get enough sleep.
Then, a friend brings over some alcohol and cake. While we've been choosing well up to this point, we’re confronted with temptation, and we kind of want a treat. Recognize this experience?
Decision-Making with an Awareness Deficit
In this less conscious version of ourselves, we think, “Hey, I’ve been good, I deserve a treat! I NEED it!” So we scarf down the food and drink. This is an unconscious decision where the pain or suffering or discomfort or fear plus the promise of an immediate reward blinds us to the longer-term impact on our goals.
If we do this, it’s not because we were bad people. We’re just conditioned to act this way. Most of us received “treats” to cheer us up when we were young — often because it was the only way our parents could find would calm us down. And that’s what they were taught would make them feel better (at least initially.)
Their patterns are simply “gifted” to us, so we, too, learn to want or expect a treat when feeling challenged.
Semi-Conscious Decision-Making
In this scenario, it’s the same situation but we’re somewhat more aware. Aware enough to recognize what we’re feeling, and why we’re feeling it, but then submerge that awareness so we can have our treat. Our desire for immediate gratification takes precedence, and we knowingly go against our better judgment.
This would have been a great moment for one of our bullshit detector friends to step in. But alas…
While we bury our awareness that we’re going off-track (so it doesn’t interfere with our momentary pleasure), we’re haunted by guilt and unease because we know we’re letting ourselves down.
The Cost of Ignorance and Partial Awareness
This sort of aware but not aware enough stage is generally more difficult than being really unconscious because once the dopamine hit of whatever we did wears off, we haunt ourselves for how we acted. Again. And for many people, strong self-judgement or even self-hatred follows.
It’s probably easier if you don’t evolve from unconscious to semi-conscious. Less suffering. Oops, sorry. Too late!
Conscious Decision-Making
As conscious individuals, we acknowledge that we’re being confronted by both whatever is challenging us, and by our desire for immediate gratification. But we don't allow it to derail our long-term goals. We're aware of the importance of keeping our choices aligned with our objectives. We strive to strike a balance between enjoying the present and working towards our goals. In doing so, we make choices that optimize taking care of ourselves in healthy ways. And it feels good. Certainly way better than haunting or hating ourselves.
Living and Leading Consciously
Awareness allows us to connect with our feelings, values, and inner wisdom, providing critical insights that allow us to make far wiser choices in our lives. With this heightened awareness, we can see a clearer, less distorted, and broader picture of our choices' impacts. This is crucial in guiding us on our evolving journeys — now and into the future.
Would you like to be more present, feel more alive and connected, with a greater sense of inner peace?
It's my mission to support people in living and leading with greater ease, wisdom, and inner peace. To feel more deeply connected with those around them.
If you'd like to tap into your deeper insight and practical wisdom to live and lead more consciously, feel free to reach out at bodhi@bodhijeffreys.com to set up a time to connect.
To see what others have to say about the work we do together, please check out the testimonials here. I look forward to connecting.
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