You Were Made for MoreSample

The Self Aware

Message

Do you remember the first time you heard the sound of your recorded voice?

I’ll never forget the first time I heard my voice on a tape recording: “Who is this guy? This guy‘s voice is not very good! I’m glad I don’t sound anything like him!”

This is my experience, and probably yours too, of the human blindspot called self-awareness.

Self-awareness, being mindful of all that’s going on around you and how you fit in, is the rarest of unicorn traits. Ironically, unicorns realize that this habit needs more work than any other. We surveyed the 30,000 unicorns we were able to identify in our research. We ask them among other things to force rank each of the 12 habits with their best down to their worst listed. As you might guess, the results were all across the board. There was no clear winner as the most common gift. Everyone’s list was in a garbled order. But one common theme shone through.

Unicorns, almost uniformly placed their-self awareness in last place. These are the people who are actually better at self-awareness than the rest of us, and yet they think they really need to work on this habit of self-awareness more and more and more. By contrast, we surveyed 250,000 random individuals. That research showed us that 91% of all respondents said that they are better than average at self-awareness.

It’s the rarest of gifts, and the biggest of our blind spots. So where do we turn for advice on how to become more self-aware? I think you look at the sanctification of saints. And I think you’ll find that the more they focus on God, the more self-aware they become.

Paul is a great example. In what many would argue was his very first letter written to a church, Paul opened his letter to the Galatians with these words: “Paul, an apostle, called by God. Not by men.”

Those are the words of a guy who has no issues with self-confidence. Paul is called by God. Paul is very confident in this.

Fast-forward toward the end of Paul’s life, to one of the last letters that he wrote. How does he refer to himself this time? “I, Paul, am the chief of all sinners.”

The longer Paul walked with Jesus, the more aware he became of how great God is, and how great His mercy toward us is. The key to self-awareness is still being selflessly entranced by Jesus.

The more we stare at Jesus, the more self-aware we will become. The more we stare at ourselves, the more tone deaf we will become. Developing that level of self-awareness will separate you from the crowd, get you noticed in your work and your witness, and will elevate your life. It might even draw others toward Jesus.

In a world driven by filters, airbrush photos, and all too synthetic technology, someone who is genuinely aware of their human condition and willing to show it will stand out like a unicorn.

Prayer

Lord, teach me to look at your face first. Then, teach me to look at your face again. Finally teach me to speak of your grace again and again and again. In Jesus’ name. Amen.