The Thinker
Self-Awareness
2000 years ago a stoic philosopher and Emperor of Ancient Rome began scribbling in a private journal. This journal documented the thoughts of Marcus Aurelius as they pertained to humanity, overcoming adversity, actioning change and commitment to the service of others and the greater good.
This incessant analysis of his thoughts became the now famous Meditations, the cornerstone of stoic philosophy, yet also, documented Marcus’ process of self-development and self-awareness.
Self-awareness is the analysis of one’s thoughts, actions and intuitions and provides one with an understanding of the motives behind each of these, and Marcus throughout the pages of his journal, demonstrated how thinking is the pre-cursor to self-awareness.
During the current context, self-awareness has become a rare commodity, sparking the rise of silent retreats, yoga studios and meditation technologies to recapture this commitment to growth exhibited by Marcus some 2000 years prior.
Furthermore, if one extends this notion of self-awareness as a commodity, it is appropriate to mention the famous Peter Drucker quote: “What gets measured, gets managed”.
Thinking, is the tool used to measure one’s internal dialogue and once this metric is established, then one is able to distance themselves from this, managing, reasoning and objectively assessing thinking.
This is self-awareness established through thinking which precedes one’s growth and personal development – one cannot grow if they are unaware of what it is that requires change – and, “what gets measured, gets managed”.
“Those who fail to attend to the motions of their own soul are necessarily unhappy” Marcus in Meditations writes, which is an accurate assessment of society today.
Individuals have access to highly addictive technologies and products, with these engineered to capture the most valuable commodity – one’s attention – and without it, the meticulous process of self-analysis is impossible.
This is precisely why thinking and directing intentional thoughts towards self-awareness is of paramount importance today.
To resist these forces – which are universal regardless of the context –; to distance oneself from thoughts; to understand the distinction between the Ego (I am my thoughts) and the Self (I am not my thoughts) is the journey of self-awareness.
The paradox however, is that ruminating on one’s thoughts, ultimately opens one up to the possibility of dissociating with them altogether.
One begins to think and behave in a manner that is in alignment with the greater good of the Whole – just as Marcus tirelessly attempted to do all those years ago.
Self-awareness begins with thinking.
CHANGE IS THE POINT 