#davesdailychallenge (88): Self-Awareness is Tough. In a prior piece I discussed the topic of accepting criticism from people who have nothing to gain by seeing you fail. In today’s piece I’d like to discuss a related topic of self-awareness. I recently received some feedback that, to be perfectly candid, surprised me. Apparently, I had communicated something that I was not aware of. It was surprising to me for the primary reason that the thing I was receiving criticism for, and I should add that it was extremely constructive from a group that I have immense respect for, is something that I have actually received consistent praise for in the past. If I had to draw up a top ten list of strengths, this trait would be on it. Here’s the rub though…it doesn’t matter. I mean it REALLY just doesn’t matter. What matters is not what I think in the moment but how I react. If this group was saying they saw something then they did. I need to react in a positive way to not only receive the criticism but re-dedicate myself to successfully proving the trait in question. Always remember that self-awareness is a much more difficult pursuit than we currently believe. We often construct our realities based on our own self perceptions and it only ever helps us to take time to step out of our comfort zones to challenge those perceptions. When we know ourselves better we can make better decisions about what will make us happiest in life and in the end, that spells success. Good luck my friends.