Knowing your triggers means you can respond to them more calmly when they come up.

Part of self-awareness is knowing what triggers you to feel stressed, angry or defensive. Many people go through their entire lives only thinking of their own immediate needs and what will affect them directly. Just as talking to an infant helps him learn language, soothing him helps him learn to comfort himself and, eventually, to comfort others. Perhaps taking yourself out for a walk or, if that’s not possible, taking a few moments to breathe and collect your thoughts.
Some people are just plain “oblivious” to the signs that others are experiencing certain emotional responses and that those responses might in fact be connected to behaviors on the other person’s part. How do you relate to others' emotions? These strongly felt connections give them the emotional capacity for later feelings of empathy. During these nurturing interactions, infants fall deeply in love with the people who care for them. This means we have insight into our own and others strengths and weaknesses and how this affects our abilities to deal with challenges as they arise. Awareness of others To be able to lead well means knowing how we respond in different situations and how others respond. They react to their environment based not on their deepest dreams and wishes but with unconscious thoughts, feelings and actions. If you ignore others' emotions you do so at your peril. For empathy to be appropriately experienced and expressed, you must first be “aware” of the other person’s feelings and concerns. Emotional awareness of others is a vital emotional intelligence skill for anyone in a leadership position.

It is important in building long-term relationships, influencing, persuading and negotiating with people, and in being able to predict behaviour. Self-awareness, Other-awareness and Social Perspective ... 3 COMMENTS. One of the hallmarks of self-awareness is the ability to understand the impact you have on others.