TAKE TIME TO REFLECT

It is worth the investment.

For me, reflection is about considering and analyzing your BELIEFS and ACTIONS so you can learn what you need to CHANGE in order to make things BETTER for the next time.

From a scientific view stopping to reflect allows you to give your brain a BREAK from the chaos and today life is more chaotic then ever so even more important to slow it down and RETHINK.  Reflecting lets you UNTANGLE and sort through your observations and experiences, to consider multiple interpretations and then create MEANING from it all.  This allows you to learn and then alter your MINDSET and actions for the future which is CRITICAL for your personal growth and development.

A lot of people go through life and NEVER stop to take the time to reflect. 

If you don’t take time to reflect you might just find yourself doing the SAME thing over and over again and getting the same RESULT or you might get STUCK and feel like you CAN’T move forward.

A lack of reflection might just keep us RUNNIING but we might be running in the WRONG DIRECTION, staying in the wrong JOB or staying in the wrong RELATIONSHIP. We just keep doing the same thing even though we are not getting the results that we WANT.

Most people will say they don’t have the TIME to do it but in reality, some people are AFRAID of what they might DISCOVER. No one wants to admit they made a MISTAKE these days, or that something could have been done better instead the thought is they did it to their best ABILITY at that time and then moved on to the next thing that was FIGHTING for their time or attention, or they stayed in that relationship just because that was what was EXPECTED of them.

I am an analytical thinker, so I am constantly self reflecting about ANYTHING and EVERYTHIING. I am always looking for ways to IMPROVE my business, my workouts, my nutrition, my productivity, my communication, my relationships.  It is actually never ending for me – which drives some people in my life crazy.

When I make a MISTAKE doing something I THINK about it over and over again and how I could have avoided the mistake or done a better job.

Even when I am doing a simple task or something for fun I still self reflect.

For example, I just put together this TikTok video to give me my highlights of 2021.

WATCH VIDEO

It seems like a simple task.  Just pick one photo from every month of the year.

As I was looking for photos for the video, I realized a few things:

  1. I did not take as many PHOTOS in 2021 as in previous years
  2. I did not do anything really BIG in 2021 OR at least I didn’t record it in photos
  3. I spent a lot of time on my OWN, staying small and still hibernating
  4. I played volleyball, worked out, hiked and biked sometimes ALONE sometimes with people
  5. While I was doing some things I loved, I also WASN’T doing very much

So, what does this tell me:

  • I need to take way MORE photos this year
  • I need to set some GOALS to do some really BIG and FUN things in 2022
  • I need to get out of hiding, start RECONNECTING and live a BIGGER life

The value of self reflecting even on something as small as the photos I took allow me to MOVE from what I experienced this past year into understanding how I can make CHANGES to IMPROVE next year based on what is IMPORTANT to me.

Taking the time to self reflect can help you:

  • Gain a new PERSPECTIVE
  • Respond more EFFECTIVELY
  • Learn and GROW
  • Make changes to IMPROVE
  • Be more AWARE of what you want and don’t want
  • Identify the REAL problem (Watch this video)

I know self reflecting can be really CHALLENGING for some people to get started with so start with something small.

TAKE ACTION: REFLECT TODAY

Start with 5 minutes each day.

  1. List one activity/interaction you had today
  2. What did you do well?
  3. What would you like to improve?
  4. How could it have been different?
  5. What do you want to do next time?

 

If you have something on your to do list that you have been avoiding:

  1. Why didn’t you take action on it?
  2. What is holding you back?
  3. What can help you move forward?
  4. What can you do to take action on it tomorrow?

 

Until next time,

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