We made it, this is it. We have come to the final video lesson in this module and in this course, I've really enjoyed crafting these lessons for you. The truth is, it's actually been a true labor of love. I've learned so much from this process. In some ways, it's only through preparing for each of these videos that I've been able to articulate the ideas and insights and even sensibilities that were deeply embedded in my own experiences and career and even my life. It turns out in fact that the process of creating this Coursera course on personal leadership, for you pushed me into a series of deep reflections on what I knew, what I believed, what I felt, and what I wanted to share. That is the topic for this last video lesson, reflection and its partner, self-awareness. Self-awareness is about knowing yourself, who you are, how you think and behave, and why you feel the way you do at any point in time. The idea that self-awareness is important is not a new idea at all. The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, Shakespeare, Socrates, among many others talked or wrote about self-awareness. Even the legendary tennis champion and activist Billie Jean King said," I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion." That's something. Self-awareness is philosophical to be true, but it's also extremely practical. More to the point, I've never met a great leader who wasn't alert to the value of being self-aware and was working towards it. That's an important point. Self-awareness is not an in-state. Something you can do, next Tuesday between 10-11 AM and then check the box. It's a lifelong process. Self-awareness is first and foremost important for each of us because it'll give us greater control over our lives, how could it not? The more you know about yourself, the more you'll be able to avoid falling into traps of your own making. When I talked about decision making mistakes in the course and that topic, I said our goal is to avoid thinking were right when we're actually very wrong. All those emotional tags, emotional biases, can play havoc with our thinking unless we are alert, unless we are self-aware to how we think. Richard Feynman, the 1965 Nobel Prize winner in physics, and really one of the most fascinating people I've ever read about. He said, "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool." That pretty much says it all, doesn't it? There are many techniques designed to or that can help with enhancing our self-awareness and it could also help reduce stress and anxiety and probably also help our own mental health more generally. That is as good a reason as any I can think of for spending some time on self-awareness. The techniques are mindfulness training, yoga, talking to a therapist, even exercise. They all can help and I know there are many others. Let me conclude with three final suggestions and then a concluding comment. First, in this course, as well as the others in this specialization, I created a series of application exercises that are not generic. They're not something you can easily find elsewhere. In fact, since I created them myself, I doubt you will ever find them anywhere else. They are personalized and I did that on purpose. I believe you become a better leader by becoming a better person. Opportunities to apply my lessons to your own life is one of the ways to do that. Second, how much time do you actually spend each day reacting to the things that are happening to you? I know a lot. This is true at work. Don't we call that firefighting. But it's also true at home, especially if you have a partner and you have children. But it's probably true for everyone to some extent. Let me ask you this. Can you build into each day a 15 minute reflection break, time for yourself to think. Take stock of where you are, reflect on why you're feeling the way you are that day,15 minutes, not a lot of time. But I know that if you don't book it in your calendar ahead of time, you probably not going to do it. As soon as we are done, go to your calendar and find two days, only two days, I'm not even asking you to do it every day. Start small next week where you can spare 15 minutes of reflection time and reserve it for you. Consider it now booked. Third, build reflection into how you do your work even beyond the 15 minutes scheduled time blocks. For example, while many people carry around notebooks, maybe you do this as well to make sure they're tracking projects, to do's, deadlines, etc. How by using a notebook and a physical or digital doesn't matter. But using a notebook to capture your reflections. It's like a diary except you don't need to write long entries. If you don't want to just jot down a few of your insights to why things are going the way they're going at work or at home. Write down questions you have about what you're seeing or even feeling. Keep track of how you're sticking with personal improvement efforts, whether there are attempts to appreciate nuance or subtlety in your life, notice paradox. Think about how to live with it or anything else we've talked about in this module. These are all introspective topics. But the greatest payoff to you will be by continuing the work even after you've viewed this last video in the course. This brings us to the end of module 4 and this entire course on personal leadership. Even though I can't see you watching this video right now, I feel as if you're right here in my office with me. I feel your presence, I feel your hopes and aspirations, and I feel your energy. I know you want to become a great and even wise leader. I know that you want to translate these ideas and your own energy to your personal life, to creating the positive impact on others that we are all capable of. Doing so would require you to be brave, to be willing to change, ready to adapt and adjust, embrace curiosity, embrace creativity, appreciate complexity, while striving for simplicity and doing the hard work of helping yourself become the person you want to be. It has been a pleasure and an honor to be with you during part of your journey and I have every confidence that you will be able to get to the place you want and deserve to be. Thank you all for letting me be your teacher.
