So I would differentiate between self awareness, self criticism and also self-talk. You don't seem to be talking about self talk.

I put a lot of importance on self awareness in my life. Basically to be aware of my thoughts. To notice what is going on inside of me and what my patterns are, etc.

I think you can be self-aware of being self-critical. Your self-talk can be very harsh and critical. But once you are self-aware and notice that you are being critical of yourself or that your self-talk is very critical, then you can start to clean it up.

For me,
Self awareness asks, "what is going on inside of me and how can i deal with this effectively in the future?"
Self criticism asks, "what is going on inside me, and what does it say about my abilities and the kind of person i am? How can I use this information to support the negative things I believe about myself?, etc etc."