Awareness And Metacognition

Written By Colēgia

Fostering awareness is a helpful life skill that can help you in many ways. Metacognition is another technique that can allow us to make positive changes. Today we want to talk about how both of these can make a difference.

Building Awareness

Awareness can be defined as “the knowledge or perception of a situation or fact.” This is usually applied to our personal lives along with how we view a social situation or an event. Awareness is extremely helpful as it gives us a more accurate idea as to what is happening around us. For school, awareness can be used to let us see what we need to work on. For example, if we find ourselves struggling with communication for presentations or something similar, we may need to take time to hone those skills. This also matters for our interpersonal relationships as being mindful of how others feel is vital to both our happiness and theirs. One helpful way to increase awareness is to work on empathy. Seeing other people’s perspectives by putting yourself in their shoes can make you more mindful of other views. Understanding ourselves and the world around us can give us a greater appreciation for all the little details.

“One helpful way to increase awareness is to work on empathy.”

Fostering Metacognition

Metacognition is otherwise known as “awareness and understanding of one’s thought processes” is another means of using your thoughts to help empower you. Being mindful of your actions is one such way to do this. Ideally, we want our thoughts to be in a state of harmony. This is known as cognitive consonance and it shows that we are content with our feelings. Saying what you mean is one such way to do this. It can be something as simple as expressing yourself more authentically while still being respectful. Other means of focusing on metacognition involve using meditation to help out. This is good as it gives you a safe space to practice this type of thought analysis without fear of judgment. Time to ourselves can prepare us for real-world situations where we need to apply these mindset shifts.

“Being mindful of your actions is one such way to do this.”

Putting Them Together

Both of these concepts revolve around each other in a meaningful way. Finding a state of inner calm can allow us be still and dive into our thoughts. Being introspective and willing to admire our best qualities while also knowing what to work on is a key part of both awareness and metacognition. There is a time to embrace our thoughts and there is a time to take action. Sometimes we may need to use what we've learned in more fast paced setting. Taking a moment to review our thoughts while being mindful of what is in front of us is important. The best way to balance both of these is to take a second when you need to and to trust your best judgment with the information you have available. We want these concepts to help us make decisions rather than letting decision overload get to us. When used properly, they can make a positive difference.

Colēgia

Colēgia

Previous

Being Proactive Rather Than Reactive
Next

Embracing Cultural Diversity