Self-awareness

Self-awareness is the ability to notice what is happening in your thoughts, emotions, and body in real time. It gives you access to early signals – tension, resistance, clarity, or shifts in energy – that otherwise might go unnoticed. Without this awareness, patterns unfold automatically and often repeat themselves. With it, you gain the information needed to understand why you think or act the way you do.

Most people overestimate how aware they are, but self-awareness is a skill. Like any other skill, it improves through practice and attention.

The role of self-awareness in the Hagen Growth Philosophy

This pillar is part of the core Hagen Growth philosophy, which you can read here.

In the Hagen Growth Loop, mindset and behavior influence each other continuously, often without your full attention. Reflection makes that loop conscious, but reflection depends on awareness. You can’t analyze what you don’t see.

Self-awareness is what reveals the signals you later reflect on. It shows when your behavior and mindset align – and when they don’t. It is the starting point of deliberate change, and the foundation that keeps the loop from drifting off course.

How self-awareness works in practice

Self-awareness operates on three levels: mental patterns, emotional responses, and physical sensations. Strengthening it means learning to observe these signals without ignoring or reacting to them too quickly.

Practices like journaling, meditation, and body-based training help sharpen this skill by slowing you down enough to notice what’s happening beneath the surface. Over time, this awareness becomes part of daily life, making it easier to catch misalignment early and understand yourself better.

Read more about self-awareness

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Paul Hagen
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