Another fundamental concept in my approach is self-observation. Without starting here, nothing will ever change.
What do I mean by self-observation? It's about being able to look at yourself - your actions, thoughts, and emotions—and observe them in order to understand what is driving all of these things. Here’s the key: do this without judgement.
Humans are unique. We have the ability to interact in our situations and external environment while being very present. But there's another part of us that watches all these interactions and observes the situation. This isn't just part of our thinking and brain. Think about it: while interacting in something and being present, there's a part of us also observing the situation and ourselves. This observational, awareness part of us can make all the changes we want in our lives.
To truly understand what our observational self is telling us, we must change the translation between our physical, interacting self and our observational self. This means releasing any filters, patterns, beliefs, and habits that don't serve us and cause us to judge. When we interpret what we’re observing in a more pure and honest way, we can take actions to change our situations.
Observation is critical. If we can observe ourselves, we can also notice what we are truly seeing in our lives. Out of the billions of things happening in our environment at any given time, why do you notice what you notice when others notice different things in the same situations? Everyone has a different outlook, and neither is right or wrong.
The powerful nature of observation is about getting back to our true, authentic selves. It’s about being able to create and run a roadmap of our lives from the observational state.