No matter where you are in your journey, the most efficient and effective tool you have is knowing exactly who you are.

Getting comfortable with today's version of you establishes a solid foundation. And learning who you need to become to achieve your goals helps to establish a concrete direction for your next steps.

Most people speak about self awareness like a passive exercise. It's really a discovery tool with dynamic insights that far exceed the value of any external tools you can identify.

Without it, you find yourself in constant conflict with perceptions, potential, and what-ifs. You're drifting from one goal to the next, without a clear sense of the undercurrent that is guiding your journey.

Understanding your strengths, flaws, and how they're manifested within your goals is the spark that ignites the unique path that your journey should follow. It becomes a gateway that bridges the gap between your current self and the future version that's capable of attaining your goals and aspirations. There are no limits to the value you can uncover through self awareness.

As it relates to your professional goals and aspirations, there are two specific insights that can change your trajectory. Mastering them, and putting them at the core of your goals, processes will give you clarity and confidence that your next moves align with bridging the gap.

Learn what truly drives and motivates you

Knowing what motivates you, and why, is critical. External rewards and motivations provide a sense of accomplishment -- but their value fades over time. They come and go, and often times, have more to do with timing and circumstance that you cannot recreate by yourself.

The secret to sustaining success lies deeper than surface-level motivation. It's lies with aligning with your core values and beliefs. Gaining clarity on what they are, and how they drive you to achieve becomes instrumental in maintaining your effort through the ups and downs of achievement.

In his book, 'Intentional Leadership,' John Maxwell emphasizes that leaders are not born but are made through a process of self-discovery.

Maxwell's own journey towards becoming an intentional leader required him to reach deep within himself to understand his motivations and then aligning these motivations with his leadership style.

He shares how the shift from monetary reward to adding value to people's lives reframed his path towards success. His personal evolution reinforces the notion that self-awareness, specifically understanding the impact of your motivations, is instrumental in achieving and sustaining success.

Integrating this self-awareness into your own life requires introspection. It's deeper than your surface level wants. It's about understanding the core of what drives and fulfills your entire being -- the things that truly bring you joy, the internal values and beliefs that have pulled you through the toughest challenges in your life.

Think about what truly drives you. Is it the pursuit of knowledge, the satisfaction of helping others, or the thrill of competition?

Identifying and aligning with these inner values will serve as a reliable compass. It will guide you in bridging the gap between today's version of you and the version capable of achieving your goals.

Put yourself in position to play to your natural strengths

Having a deeper awareness of the role you're playing within your journey empowers you to navigate the path more seamlessly.

Identifying the specific role in you're playing in the journey towards success adds efficiency and effectiveness to the pursuit. So, which of these roles sounds more like you -- are you a visionary or an integrator?

The book 'Rocket Fuel" introduces these two concepts:

• The Visionary is a big-picture thinker, filled with ideas and possibilities. The book highlights that visionaries typically start companies, disrupt industries, and drive innovation.
• The Integrator, on the other hand, excels in executing these ideas, converting them into tangible results. Integrators manage the company’s daily affairs, ensure team alignment, and keep the organization's operations functioning smoothly.

Understanding which of these roles you're play at any given time provides a framework for action that can expedite success.

Neither role is absolute. It can change from situation to situation. But, once you identify your natural inclination, you can position yourself in more advantageous ways that maximize your natural strengths and complement your weaknesses.

It sounds overly simple, but knowing who you are, what motivates you, and the role that best fits you on the journey, is fundamental to success. Some external rewards may provide motivation, but true success that can be sustained is anchored by fulfilling your core values and beliefs.

As you work to master the self discovery and reflection, and build it as a skillset, remember these words of Lao Tzu,

"He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened."

Learning to harness the power of self-awareness will illuminate your path to success.