This episode is the real deal. Tessy Time gets deep talking about social issues that need healing, and issuing a compelling call to action. Main topic is for everyone - as studies show only 10 to 15 % of the population is self aware, this episode deep dives into WHY self awareness is CRITICAL for true authentic wholistic success AND the few steps you can take to start building your self awareness TODAY.
Welcome to Jessie's World - a weekly variety show that takes us through Jessie's Wheel of Life including Community, Fun, Health & Wellness, Entrepreneurship, Relationships, and Personal Development. Each segment brings a different flavor, making it interesting and engaging. The host Jessica Lambert aka @jessicavibez keeps it conversational and weaves humor though light and heavier topics. Special guests come from all walks of life and may surprise you. The ultimate goal of the show is to entertain, inspire, uplift, and assist us all (host included) in becoming our best selves. You get new, entertainment, wellness, and inspiration all in one great show.
Segments Include:
Tessy Time (Community) - real talks about current societal issues.
Mrs. Write (Fun) - a freestyle on-air comical writing segment where computer generated prompts are turned into master poems, songs, and short stories right on the spot.
Big Boss Vibez (Career Health) - let's talk all things entrepreneurship and bring our businesses to new heights
Today's Topic (and sometimes - Guest) - This segment covers a variety of topics that are aimed at peeking curiosity, inspiring, motivating, supporting, and most of all assisting listeners in becoming their best selves.
Gods N Goddesses (Health and Wellness) - travel inwards to center yourself. Let's focus on the personal care and wellness items that will help ensure you maximize your quality of life. A peer learning and sharing segment we grow together.
Love, Fam, N Family (Relationships) - let's share stories of human impact and the importance of leading with love.
Quote of the day.
Affirmation
Outro.
Listener interaction is encouraged. If you have show suggestions or would like to be a guest on our show you can send your request on Instagram @jessicavibez or @jessiesworldxo you may also visit www.platinumrouge.com/jessies-world
Jessie’s World Eps 21 – How Self Awareness Can Save Your Life
INTRO
Thanks so much for tuning into episode 21 of Jessie’s World Podcast where we are dedicated to becoming our best selves together.
If you are upwardly mobile, a go getter, and are committed to improving your self and your life, this is the place for you.
I am Jessica Lambert – aka – Jessica Vibez with a Z and I am your Host.
Today’s we will be discussing all things SELF AWARENESS and how to use this critical skill to improve yourself, your life, and your business.
We will focus on Solution-focused self-reflection and the role of the self in the attainment of goals – as it is most helpful in eliminating rumination and instead helps move an individual toward future-focused behavior.
Rumination is defined as engaging in a repetitive negative thought process that loops continuously in the mind without end or completion – basically, it’s when negative thoughts play over and over in your mind and are hard to stop. This can happen as a result from trauma and stress, and it can be detrimental because it can repeat the body’s negative stress response over and over making you susceptible to disease or chronic illnesses.
Because we are focused on HEALING, Wellness, and becoming our best selves at Jessie’s World – we will focus on SOLUTION-FOCUSED SELF REFLECTION and help point you to a brighter future and a happier healthier wealthier YOU
But first, as always, it’s TESSY TIME.
TESSY TIME – Black on Black Crime
Today for Tessy Time I have a very serious topic to address.
This week we lost a loved member of the Hip Hop community, and even more important, of our Black community, and of our Young Male community, Takeoff.
Since this tragedy happened a few days ago now, and since Takeoff is a legendary pop icon and one third of the very popular group, Migos, I am sure you are aware of his untimely death and how it has broken hearts around the world.
While I would like to offer his family my heart felt condolences, I want to also acknowledge that this is a loss for us all. It’s also the right time to address the issue to young Black Men continuing to be the target of aggression from within and from outside our own Black community.
I released a poem in 2019 speaking out against what I call the ENDANGERED BLACK MALE. I note in this poem that there is more money, energy, effort, and collaboration to save the BLACK RHINO than there is being spent to save the BLACK MALE. The rate at which our young men are dying we need to call this an emergency. We need to have a NORTH AMERICAN WIDE (that’s Canada and America) COMMITMENT from GOVERNMENT to FUND PROGRAMS and SERVICES coming from all levels of community members in various forms (i.e. business, non profit, community group, small business, solopreneurs, programs, etc.) and priority should be given to THOSE WHO GREW UP IMPACTED BY AND DEALING WITH THESE ISSUES AND MADE IT OUT – so that we can help illuminate the way for young people navigating this world.
We need to form a protective shield around our young Black Kings so that they are safe…even from each other. If you care as much as I do about this DM me on Instagram @JessicaVibez and let me know what you think the solution is? Where do we begin?
As the daughter, sister, mother of Black Men, I for one cannot in good conscious remain inactive. We must ACTIVELY create change!!! My call to action is CONTACT ME / DM ME and let’s start uniting for change. #BlackMenMATTER.
TOPIC – How to Use Self Awareness to Improve Your Life
Having a better understanding of ourselves can lead to a more fulfilling and successful life. So …what is self awareness?
Definition – an awareness of one’s own personality or individuality, or simply put, to know thyself. Self awareness was first termed in 1876. In short, it is the ability to see ourselves clearly and objectively.
In knowing yourself, you connect with your inner gifts, your life’s purpose, and you are honest about where you are in relation to where you want to be. When things bother or trigger you, you stop and look at it, and learn from it, you see yourself in relation to the world as opposed to being ‘of’ the world.
Jessie’s World’s work is to help people become their best self – and SELF AWARENESS is very much a first step towards a journey of success, happiness, healing, and abundance.
Please note if you regularly participate in things that pull you away from self, like avoidance, self-medicating, or suppression – this will delay your success, or if you have managed to achieve success in life, it could threaten it, thus developing self awareness, and stopping things like avoidance, suppression, and self medication is critical for sustained success and wellness.
Special Note – In the Black Community we are not always encouraged to do the deep meaning full work of connecting with ourselves, figuring out who we are, what we love, how we want to relate to the world from a position of a strong sense of self. It’s never too late to embark on that journey, and I invite you to do it with me every week as part of this podcast. While we all need to work on our self-awareness and to strengthen it as a fundamental building block towards self-actualization, we in the Black community in particular have suffered from unique stresses and strain that can cause what is known as chronic stress – which is a root cause for many diseases and ailments including diabetes, blood clots, hear and stroke issues, and which Covid 19 feeds on. Studies show that our community is disproportionately impacted, and so making time for ourselves, healing ourselves, connecting with ourselves, loving ourselves, strengthening our immune systems through reduced stress all of this is critical to our lives.
When you consider the fact that from as early as 18 months old Self-awareness is a state in which the concept of the self reacts to social and environmental cues. Then, In adults, self-awareness is the capacity for deeper self-reflection.
If you were not conditioned at a young age to value yourself, care for yourself, see yourself as an individual within and in relation to a world, and nurture your individual qualities and positive traits – that makes self care, self awareness, and your relationship with community and world more difficult.
The good news is – it’s never to late to start building your self awareness.
BENEFITS of SELF FOCUSED SELF REFLECTION and the ATTAINMENT of FUTURE GOALS
1. Increased perspective-taking enables increased empathic responses to the plight of others. This improves relationships and connections with other human beings.
2. Self control / improved self regulation – which impacts things like eating habits, repetition of negative habits or behaviors, and even participation in criminal activity or aggression
3. Improved creative works – as one deepens their ability to go inward and reflect, they are better able to access their internal gifts and to tap into their creativity to master their artform
4. Improved social skills – and the ability to fit into society and succeed within existing social structures
5. Improved self esteem – that comes with successfully creating, fitting in, excelling, and achieving in life
6. Improved habits – habits are hard to change, but that change only comes about as a result of heightened self awareness
7. Understand your own strengths and weaknesses
8. Step outside of yourself and understand life from different perspectives
Switching Gears, let’s jump over to Big Boss Vibez for a moment, as I want to also highlight the benefits of self awareness in your Professional life too.
With over 15 years of experience as a Business Strategist I have helped many executives and ceos achieve the success they are looking for. With small and medium enterprises playing such a large role in our economy and with more and more Artists opting to be independent entrepreneurs, self awareness has never been more important. Self Awareness is the first step in developing yourself as an entrepreneur and executive. An understanding of self, and then self in relation to your business, your customers, your clients, your team, your partners is so critical. Businesses rise and fall on people’s ability to steer the helm and you need a sense of self to do that effectively.
So, here is why it is VERY important that if you want your business to succeed, you must take the time needed to pour into you, connect with you, and develop your understanding of, and relationship with self.
1. Your business depends on YOU – you need your physical and mental and emotional health to keep your business healthy / you also need an understanding of your strengths and weaknesses so you can align your skills with the core competencies required to run your business
2. Self awareness helps you understand others too and will help you read people better and build an effective and successful team
3. You are better able to harness your inner strength and use it to achieve your corporate goals
4. An awareness of self puts you in a much better position to be able to build an AUTHENTIC brand that truly represents you (since you know you) and that people connect with – people are attracted to authenticity but you must know yourself to be truly authentic
5. Improved decision making – when you know yourself, your purpose, and your values you are able to make clear decisions that are in alignment with the direction you want in business and in life
6. You avoid public scandal – knowing yourself dramatically reduces the chances of your participating in risky or self destructive behaviors that can lead to career suicide and real life issues, even tragedies
Your success in business and in life starts with YOU and your knowledge of you.
So – what could happen if you decide self awareness just isn’t your priority? Well, I don’t have a crystal ball, but I know some of the risks include:
• Engaging in risky behavior
• Being impulsive
• Difficulty maintaining relationships
• Difficulty understanding or relating to others
• Difficulty achieving goals that require focus and self discipline
Self-awareness is a built in guidance system to help you navigate life successfully….so…
HOW TO BUILD SELF AWARENESS in YOUR PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LIFE
While being self aware comes with numerous benefits, the truth is, most people are missing out. A study conducted by psychologist Tasha Eurich, found that while 95% of people THINK they are self aware, in actuality only 10 – 15% are.
SO – how do you make sure you don’t miss out? Start taking these simple steps TODAY to ensure you enjoy the evolutionary and transformative benefits of self awareness in your personal and professional lives.
Steps to Building Self Awareness in your Career and in Life:
1. Understand your life story – and how it affects how you see yourself. Psychologists have been studying a thing called Narrative Identity – basically it looks at how what we tell ourselves about our lives shape the person we become. As research from Southern Methodist University shows, writing about difficult life experiences improves our physical and mental health. The more you understand about yourself and how you see your life’s events, and how you deliberately heal from that will shape who you are and your chance at improved success in your life. It’s literally why I created Jessie’s World – to give everyone a shot at a happy healthy life, by building a deeper understanding of self, and using that to change their destiny.
2. Create a daily habit of self reflection – studies show mindfulness can create changes in the brain and can help move you from anger and anxiety to a sense of calm and wellbeing. Self reflection can come in many forms, you should find something you enjoy, it could be meditation, breathe work like I have done with you here on Jessie’s World, a long hot shower – I always love that, a nice walk – I do that daily, I also love sitting by the water and chilling it’s so peaceful, and working out always helps me clear my head and think. I love dancing too. You can even just tap into a guided meditation and chill.
3. Be Open and Coachable, Seek honest feedback and use your critical thinking to filter what helps you become a better person. I have always been open to learning about myself, and where I can improve as a person. For me, being my best self is so much more important than saving face in the moment, I know the journey to self actualization is long and people along the way pointing me in the right direction is very helpful if you are willing to listen. That said, never just blindly listen to anyone I don’t care who it is – not even me. WE are all human, and the thing that is unique about you is you have all the facts on you, so you should always always filter information before implementation.
4. Go Inward When making decisions – personally and professionally. True leaders have a strong sense of self, and they are driven by that internal desire to create, to express themselves, to succeed. This is the type of person that people will want to invest in personally and professionally, because you can rely on inner drive, as opposed to having external forces be your driving factor because external forces will change often where internal direction is steadfast. Build your connection to self and strengthen your internal drive, rev up your inner motivation so it's a heated fire of desire
5. Be humble and teachable – being willing to start where you are and build from there is so important. Strong leaders are happy to learn the ropes and take the time to learn from masters until they master the skill themselves. The road to success is a long one, and learning is at every corner. Being humble and open will make you a master faster believe that.
6. Build strong control over your emotions – Successful entrepreneurs do not let fear or anger take over and control their decision-making capabilities. Fear and anger make it difficult to reach mastery as these emotions disconnect people from rational thought. And rational thought keeps someone in touch with the whole battlefield, creating the space for good decision making and propelling the leader beyond petty emotions toward success. Self-control is a necessary ingredient for driving success.
7. Build your emotional intelligence – your ability to understand, use, and manage your own emotion to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges, and defuse conflict. This is critical to success in business and in life
8. Build your ability to assess and take smart calculated risks that will propel you to success while minimizing risk
9. Be patience, it’s a skill that will help in business, in your friendships and even in your love life
10. Stay curious – I have an active curiosity all the time lol it makes me do bold things others would not because I just love satisfying my curiosity it’s fun and it’s definitely a key ingredient in success
11. Stay humble – when ego takes over it’s like the plug has been pulled on self-awareness and quality reasoning now you are operating in your lower self, resist that temptation – stay humble. Everyone loves working with, and chillin with, a humble person.
12. Keep learning – the school of life never ends. At the rate of societal, economical, tech, and other changes in life you must be astute and be engaged in continuous learning to maintain your competitive edges and quiet frankly to remine competent!
There you have it guys, now you know what self awareness is, why you need it, and how to achieve it – I never leave you hanging. I hope you learned a tone today. Now it’s time for GODS N GODDESSES.
Gods N Goddesses – Guided Self Awareness Meditation
Today I just want to take you on a guided meditation into self.
Let’s take some deep breathes in and out
And let’s evaluate our inner narrative – what is the story of your life?
How has that story shaped who you are today?
Is it prepelling you forward or holding you back?
Are you willing to heal your past trauma and let it go?
Are you willing to focus on solutions?
Let’s consider Solution Based Identity:
What are the challenges you face today?
What solutions could help you achieve the goals you desire?
Picture yourself putting those solutions into place?
Picture your solutions working in your favor, and your resolving your challenges.
Picture your enjoying the benefit of your positive attitude,
Picture yourself enjoying how amazing your life is now that you are entirely focused on solutions
Build that inner burning desire for success and achievement
You are your motivation
You are propelling you into the best lifestyle for you
You are not affected by outside realities, your inner self has a relentless unwavering desire to succeed you must feed this inner fire you are so fired up you are so excited you are unwilling to do anything that removes your focus from success and because you are feeding your fire you are winning you are winning you have won.
Breathe in
Breathe out
Stay in that feeling of wining
Stay in the feeling of self love
Of self success
You did this
You can do this
You got this
You are a winner
I love you!
QUOTE –
“Everything I need to win, I can tap from within.” Jessica Lambert
AFFIRMATION –
“I am a winner. I know my story has ups and downs. I will let the ups lift me and the downs inform me. I will not replay the past in my mind, I know I need that mental space to build a successful happy future. I am so committed to my success, to my joy, to my happiness that I am willing to focus on nothing but the achievement of my joy. I am fully invested in me. I love myself so much. I know every future win will help heal a past woe, and I know I have the internal drive and the inner fire to take me higher. Just like Jay Z I am a PIMP person improving my position (DIRECT QUOTE FROM CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOHNSON – LOVE YOU FAMILAM)”
OUTRO –
Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Jessie’s World, come back every week for new episodes – and let’s continue to become our best selves together.
I am your host Jessica Vibez with a Z follow me on Instagram, also follow the show at Jessies World XO.
Peace and Love always.
RESEARCH SOURCES
https://www.lyrahealth.com/blog/self-care-for-black-americans-amid-race-based-traumatic-stress/#:~:text=Many%20African%20Americans%20were%20not%20socialized%20or%20parented,coping%20mechanisms%20such%20as%20avoidance%2C%20suppression%2C%20or%20self-medication.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-is-your-true-north/201509/know-thyself-how-develop-self-awareness