In the military intrapersonal skills are developed in recruits from day 1. For nearly 20 years, the U.S. Army challenged us with the “Be All You Can Be” ad campaign and then later adopted the “Army of One” slogan. Intrapersonal is something that exists within one person. It is having an awareness of how they affect the world around them. It is not what a group of people think; it is what you think, your perception of anything, and everything around you.
Your intrapersonal skills form the foundation on which you build your relationships with others. Consider further what, Natt Garun said in The Verge, “The future of fitness is together but alone,” “Many individuals struggle to maintain individual, or what is known as intrapersonal levels of things like motivation, self-control, confidence, and self-efficacy.”
Don’t be confused; intrapersonal skills are not the same as interpersonal skills. Intrapersonal is communication occurring within one’s self, while interpersonal is communication that takes place between two or more people. Or another way of describing the differences could be that intrapersonal is internal communication while interpersonal is external communication.
When we use our intrapersonal skills effectively, we develop self-regard to perceive, understand, and accept oneself accurately. Knowledge of our unique Intrapersonal skills is crucial to success in life, work, family, and ultimate happiness.
It is through intrapersonal skills that we develop self-esteem and open-mindedness. We can become more aware of our thinking and learning habits. Plus, we acquire a greater understanding of ourselves.
By managing our emotions better we are able to increase self-confidence, and improve self-discipline. We also can become more assertive and express our thoughts more effectively.
Often it is hard to recognize one’s own strengths and weaknesses. However, it is essential for setting goals, managing time and stress. This is one reason why developing our intrapersonal skills is so important. You can cultivate these skills on your own, or improve them with a Behavioral Coach.
However, before embarking on coaching to improve your intrapersonal skills, here are some tips that you can implement today. These five tips will help you improve your intrapersonal skills.
1. Start a journal - If you are wondering about what you should write, here are some writing prompts to get you started. Ask yourself a few questions and write your answers down for each item each day. You might start with, 1) What is one crucial thing that I did yesterday? 2) What is one thing I would like to accomplish today? 3) How do I feel today? Happy, sad, anxious, etc.?
2. Practice meditation and breathwork - You need to give your mind a break and shut down the outside noise. Do anything that you like in this area for just a few minutes a day. Get quiet, breathe, and listen to your breath. There are a lot of meditation and mindfulness apps that you can download to explore this more fully for great results.
3. Talk to yourself - Ask yourself these questions: A) What makes me happy? B) What makes me sad? What inspires me? What makes me mad? By pondering these questions and interviewing yourself, you will become more aware of yourself. We used to be told not to speak to ourselves. However, now we know that it has merit.
4. Master your emotions - Sometimes we need to talk, and sometimes we need to listen. We don’t have to always express our opinions. Communicate more with those who are positive or have a balanced view of life. By choosing more wisely whom we spend time with, and by being pickier about the content we digest, we can better master our emotions.
5. Improve Self-discipline by taking action - Start something that you have always wanted to do but have not had the courage or self-motivation to do. For example, it could be a hobby or something physical, like walking for 30 minutes every morning.
These are just 5 of the many things that you could do to get started on improving your intrapersonal & Self-Awareness Success. I hope that you are now clear what intrapersonal skills are, and have the desire to develop yours. You are building a strong foundation for success in life, work, and ultimate happiness.
