The Value of Self-reflection
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“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” Søren Kierkegaard
Reflection is a key learning tool that helps us evaluate our experiences and learn from them thereby making us more effective and successful in the future. We all know this but struggle, in such a fast-paced world, to carve out time to reflect properly. Don’t short-change yourself, self-reflection is vital.
Self-reflection comes more easily to some people than others. In my experience the more action-orientated and extroverted we are the less likely we are to make time to reflect on our experiences, behaviours and others’ reactions. Reflecting takes time, and we prefer moving forward to standing still and thinking about the past! We get things done! We’re cheer-leaders, front-runners, racing ahead unfettered by indecision or worries – and could be repeating old mistakes too often with too much fall-out to realise we are becoming a liability.
Others reflect too much. They can worry about what they have done and said over the course of a day, re-examining in detail conference calls, meetings, and asides, concerned about what they might have missed or misunderstood. For them, decisions are difficult and often protracted, much to others’ annoyance. In this scenario, lack of inner-confidence is sometimes the culprit and requires different steps to boost your self-esteem. We’ll tackle this in another blog.
How should we reflect?
Try the following approach:
How often should you reflect? It all depends. Reflecting in the moment is really useful for most work situations. You’ll be able to take immediate action where you feel, on reflection, you’ve missed or overlooked something, speak to someone you should have consulted, or check facts that you realise have not been checked. My husband, who is an engineer, kept a daily diary and would review this at the end of each week.
What about reflecting on life’s bigger issues? This could be your career direction perhaps? Whether to apply for a promotion or lateral move? An ongoing problem with a colleague that has always been side-stepped as ‘too difficult’. Bigger issues are often more emotional and require more distance to get the right perspective. Weekends and holidays are good for such reflection – you need to forget the day to day work in order to tap into your deeper thoughts and feelings. Allowing your mind time to free itself from routine often results in unforced insights and awareness. New solutions or approaches seem to spring, unbidden, from your sub-conscious mind. There is quite a volume of research about distraction techniques and problem-solving efficacy!
TAKE AWAY
Making time to reflect on what is happening to you at work isn’t a luxury it’s a necessity. Build it into your week in whatever way you can because if we don’t reflect, we don’t learn!
Reflection is a key learning tool that helps us evaluate our experiences and learn from them thereby making us more effective and successful in the future. We all know this but struggle, in such a fast-paced world, to carve out time to reflect properly. Don’t short-change yourself, self-reflection is vital.
Self-reflection comes more easily to some people than others. In my experience the more action-orientated and extroverted we are the less likely we are to make time to reflect on our experiences, behaviours and others’ reactions. Reflecting takes time, and we prefer moving forward to standing still and thinking about the past! We get things done! We’re cheer-leaders, front-runners, racing ahead unfettered by indecision or worries – and could be repeating old mistakes too often with too much fall-out to realise we are becoming a liability.
Others reflect too much. They can worry about what they have done and said over the course of a day, re-examining in detail conference calls, meetings, and asides, concerned about what they might have missed or misunderstood. For them, decisions are difficult and often protracted, much to others’ annoyance. In this scenario, lack of inner-confidence is sometimes the culprit and requires different steps to boost your self-esteem. We’ll tackle this in another blog.
How should we reflect?
Try the following approach:
- Find time – when you can be still, or still your mind and relax, breathe deeply
- Solitude – find a place where you can avoid interruptions
- Relax – breathe deeply
- What have I achieved today/this week?
- What have I learnt?
- How do I feel?
- What will I change?
- Or use my favourite www.ebi what works well, even better if?
How often should you reflect? It all depends. Reflecting in the moment is really useful for most work situations. You’ll be able to take immediate action where you feel, on reflection, you’ve missed or overlooked something, speak to someone you should have consulted, or check facts that you realise have not been checked. My husband, who is an engineer, kept a daily diary and would review this at the end of each week.
What about reflecting on life’s bigger issues? This could be your career direction perhaps? Whether to apply for a promotion or lateral move? An ongoing problem with a colleague that has always been side-stepped as ‘too difficult’. Bigger issues are often more emotional and require more distance to get the right perspective. Weekends and holidays are good for such reflection – you need to forget the day to day work in order to tap into your deeper thoughts and feelings. Allowing your mind time to free itself from routine often results in unforced insights and awareness. New solutions or approaches seem to spring, unbidden, from your sub-conscious mind. There is quite a volume of research about distraction techniques and problem-solving efficacy!
TAKE AWAY
Making time to reflect on what is happening to you at work isn’t a luxury it’s a necessity. Build it into your week in whatever way you can because if we don’t reflect, we don’t learn!