4 Tips for Self-Reflecting And The Benefits
Self-reflection is a term that gets thrown around a lot these days. And for good reason. It’s a critical practice for personal growth and development. Taking time to pause and reflect can be so hard, especially when it feels like time just flies by. But, it’s important to prioritize time for it.
Taking time to examine our thoughts, feelings, goals, and actions allows us to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and how we can keep striving to do better every day. Let’s talk about some tips to help you maximize your self-reflection and a few of the many amazing benefits!
Find your method
It’s important to find the self-reflection method that works best for you. Everyone’s brains work differently and we all have different preferences. Try out different methods until one sticks.
Free-hand journaling is a popular and easy method. You simply write down all your thoughts and reflections in a journal. There’s no structure - just whatever works for you to stay on track.
If you need a little more structure, you can use prompts/questions to help you. There are a lot of free prompts out on the internet, and you can even use different prompts depending on the area of focus that you’re reflecting on.
If you want to get a little more advanced, meditating is a pretty awesome method. You should do this if you don't need to write things down to get a good reflection. This will help you if you’re more of a visual thinker.
Focus on one topic at a time
When self-reflecting, it’s easy to get jumbled with all the thoughts flowing to you at once, especially if you have multiple things you want to reflect on during a session. Focus on one topic at a time during your session, or even plan different self-reflection sessions for different areas of your life (i.e: a mental wellness session, a professional session, a relationship session, etc.).
Doing this helps to break it down so you can be as thorough as possible, rather than focusing on too much at once. You want to be efficient and thorough to get the most out of your time, and also be in the best position possible moving forward.
Be specific
Make sure to be specific on what you’re reflecting on. Focus on different aspects for each area/item. This is where prompts may come in handy. Think about exactly what happened, what could be better and what you can do moving forward. Create actionable steps to follow. The more specific you are, the easier and better your growth will be. The purpose is to see how you can improve, so focus on everything that goes into that.
Don’t dawn on the negatives
It’s easy to get wrapped up in what you didn’t do, what you should’ve done, or what went wrong. “Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve” phrases are ones you shouldn’t put too much focus on because it doesn’t change what has already happened in the past.
Use your mistakes, failures, or things that can simply be better to adjust your approach moving forward, but don’t dawn on them. Anything that didn’t go as planned is just a part of the process. And the process will NEVER be perfect.
Now that you’ve nailed down your strategy for self-reflecting, let’s talk about some of the benefits you’ll get from integrating this practice into your routine.
Less stress and anxiety
Your stress and anxiety will massively decrease. Self-reflection not only helps you put things into perspective, but it also helps you create somewhat of a plan moving forward. Knowing what to expect and what to do as you continue on will help you feel less stressed overall.
Better decision-making
Because you have less stress and anxiety, your mind will be clearer. This leads you to be better at decision-making. Without a cloudy brain filled with “what ifs,” you’ll be able to make quicker and better decisions for yourself.
Increased confidence
Self-reflection will help you develop a better understanding of yourself, your strengths, and your areas for growth. You’ll have a heightened sense of self-awareness which will help you recognize your achievements. It also gives you a better chance of achieving your goals when you set them by giving yourself a strategy and a plan to reach them.
Self reflection is a powerful tool for personal growth and self-improvement. By making time to examine areas of your life for improvement, you’ll have the mental capacity and tools to transform your life while also improving your overall mental wellness.
