by Judith Stafford | Feb 13, 2024 | Becoming a Wise Woman, self help
Knowing me, Knowing who? How self-reflection leads to personal growth. “Life really does begin at forty. Up until then, you are just doing research.” - Carl Jung. Do you think of yourself as self-aware? Do you even know what it means to be self-aware? Congratulations if you have ever considered it at all. The very act of thinking about it means you have a degree of self-awareness. I have been doing quite a bit of journalling and shadow work recently, resulting in my considering how self-aware I am. I decided to do some research to get a better idea, and this is what I learned. A poll by The Harvard Business Review discovered that although 95% of people think they’re self-aware, only 10 to 15% actually are. It makes you think. How many deluded people are there out there? When I looked up self-awareness online, ‘self-awareness as a leader’ appeared most frequently. Looks like it is the new buzzword in management speak. Something aspiring leaders have decided they must have. Looks like I have found some of the deluded 95%! But self-awareness is important, whoever you are. It is not just for your career, which undoubtedly helps, but also for your benefit and those around you. What does it mean to be self-aware? According to the American Psychological Association, self-awareness is “the consequence of focusing attention on the self.” But what does this mean? Self-awareness is the intention of aspiring to be the best person you can be. It involves a great deal of self-analysis of your emotions, thoughts, motives and values to uncover who you are and find...
by Judith Stafford | Jun 30, 2023 | Becoming a Wise Woman
Why you should embrace becoming an elder Nobody wants to get old. Most of us would prefer to avoid the ageing process if we could. But this is impossible; our bodies will age whether we want them to or not. That doesn’t mean there is nothing you can do to stay strong and healthy as much as possible, but that ageing is inevitable. The purpose of the second half of life The psychologist Carl Jung believed that the second half of life is for knowing and becoming your true self. It isn’t easy to pinpoint an exact age for when the second half of life begins. But I would say it is sometime in our late 40s. Nobody knows how long they have to live, but this is when most of us will begin to feel things have changed. The catalyst could be the death of a loved one, an illness or a traumatic event, or it could be as simple as realising that your priorities have changed. You begin questioning your values and what you want for the rest of your life. Past focuses, such as career or family, may take a back step as your needs change and you focus on what you want rather than the needs of others. Part of this process involves coming to terms with your mortality. It is scary – but you can’t ignore it or pretend it isn’t happening. Ageing in the 21st Century This new century has seen changes in the way we age. We are healthier and wealthier and have more time to spend after retirement than other generations....
by Judith Stafford | Apr 6, 2021 | Becoming a Wise Woman
At least without thinking about it We have all been there. Wondering what happened to that bright young thing you used to be and if there is any way you can bring back that spark into your life. But before you do anything rash that you might regret, stop, and think about what you are doing. Make sure you know what it is you really want and understand the underlying problem. Here are six things that you have to avoid doing on the spur of the moment. I’m not saying you can’t do these things at all. Just that you really need to understand what you are doing and why before you do anything drastic. Pack in your job You’ve been doing the same job for the last 10 years and you’re bored. You don’t care about promotions anymore, you think the company sucks, your manager is an idiot, and your job just seems pointless. What you really want to do is to tell them all to get stuffed and go off and become an artist, a writer or join a band. You have still got dreams. Anything rather than sit at the same desk with the same people doing the same thing, again and again, every day until you retire or die. Leave your partner You have been together forever, built a home, raised the kids, and had some great times. But now you seem to have nothing in common, you argue all the time, and can’t remember the last time you enjoyed each other’s company. In fact, if you have to watch him or her, lying...
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