“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful” Margaret Wheatley
Seems pretty harsh doesn’t it?
We mean, I’m sure some useful things have been achieved without the help of reflection and sometimes the unintended consequences we create aren’t so bad. However we do agree that it’s pretty easy to wonder blindly on our way and you’d be surprised at how many people live their life this way. To us, that is definitely not a good thing.
When we talk about reflection we’re not talking about the kind you see in a mirror. We’re talking about the practice of self-reflection which is an incredibly valuable and insightful tool. In fact, we tend to think that if the number of people focused on personal reflection matched those who take selfies in front of the mirror, the world would be a calmer, more peaceful and happier place.
So what is self-reflection you may ask?
Essentially it’s the act of looking inwards, asking questions and assessing yourself, and attempting to find answers based on your experiences. Those in the know – commonly called psychologists – suggest self-reflection is a valuable way to develop emotional intelligence and personal growth. It’s a widely used tool in education, high performance management and staff development. For individuals it supports self-awareness, self-regulation, increases confidence and adaptability, and supports overall general well-being.
Reflection doesn’t have to be an overly complex or arduous process. Yes, some people reflect by writing lengthy journals and universities take the fun out of it by having students write reflective assessments however these are not the only ways to reflect and certainly not the way we’d suggest. You may have worked out by now that we take a simple is best approach to almost everything and there’s a few quick and easy ways that works for us. We share some specific examples soon however ultimately it could be as quick as asking yourself one simple question and giving your mind the capacity to digest and process the answer – realistically this could take less than a minute.
So enough about the theoretical and let’s get to the practical of how you can actually use this thing.
Goal-setting
We’ll start here because we’ve already done a post on the value of continually reviewing goals and the power of introducing this into your regular routine. Check out the power of process for a refresher or if you want to learn more.
If you subscribe to the belief that goal-setting is a power motivational tool that supports positive outcome – and we absolutely do – then reflection goes hand in glove with goal-setting. Spending time measuring progress, thinking about ways to overcome barriers and ensuring you’re going in the right direction can’t be underestimated. Equally if you’ve set yourself goals to achieve and aren’t doing some form of regular reflection you may as well be wondering blindly.
In action, this includes regular and uninterrupted time where you can review your goals, assess your progress and think about what your next steps will be. For us this is a weekly reflective session that is scheduled into our calendar and takes no longer than 30 minutes.
Performance (in any environment)
Another valuable way to apply personal reflection is when trying to improve your performance. This could be in a professional setting such as job performance, skills development and career progression. It can equally apply to personal environments such as sport, training and nutrition and your family life such as the relationship with your partner, your children or close family.
Reflection is one of tools that professional athletes rely on to support high levels of performance. Sporting organisations realised a long time ago that one of the best ways to improve their team’s performance was to have their players review and reflect on their own performance and help them identify ways in which they can improve. There’s no reason why the benefits of this should be limited to elite athletes.
To apply this practice, it’s simply a case of building a mechanism for you to have the time and space to think about your chosen focus area, how you’ve performed, interacted with and/or contributed to that area and what learnings you can take action on. As an example, we currently have a daily reflection practice that focuses on our work performance, what went well, what didn’t and what we want to focus on tomorrow. In less than 15 minutes a day, we’ve introduced a process that means we’re reflecting on and improving our performance every single day.
Sh!t situations
Life is going to throw some ordinary situations your way. That’s an unavoidable fact however typically it’s our reactions to these situations and the actions we take that can be more damaging than the situation itself.
Whenever you find yourself in a sticky situation, your first thought isn’t likely to be one of calm introspection. You’re probably in a state that includes high levels of stress, confusion, anger, frustration, sadness and a range of other negative feelings. Your hormonal system will be all over the place and the adrenaline will have kicked your cortisol up a notch. Not the ideal mental or physical state to be thinking rationally or focusing on what’s most important.
Reflection can play a critical role in these scenarios to help you take the emotion out of your thought process, objectively think about the best response and put steps in place to deliver on this. If it’s too late and you’ve already reacted on the situation, reflection can still play a role in trying to repair any collateral damage that’s been caused and critically evaluate how you can avoid a repeat of the situation in future.
Unless you’re finding yourself in these situations regularly, putting this into practice can be a little less predictable. However it’s as simple as putting some quiet time aside when you realise you’ve just found yourself in a situation that has resulted in conflict, feelings of frustration, feeling like you’re not in control or possibly even hopelessness about a particular situation. It’s at this time where you can begin to reflect on the situation, the people involved, your role in this, what’s most important and what action you can take that will get you closer to the best outcome. We’re a regular user of this practice when there’s conflict, disagreement or negotiation required in the workplace and we’re yet to find a sticky situation that taking the time to think rationally and reflect on hasn’t helped.
Reflection is an underrated and underused technique that can deliver enormous upside in every aspect of your life. If nothing else, the peace and quiet is good for your overall well-being too.
Action for the week:
- Consider the parts of your life where a reflective practice would add value. Areas of dissatisfaction or high stress are ripe for experimenting with.
- Set 15 minutes aside to self-reflect on the situation according to the tips above. The end result you’re looking for is a clear way forward on what you’ll do differently next time.
- Leverage the power of process by scheduling reflective practice as a regular part of your routine.
Self-reflection isn’t a complex, arduous or time-consuming task which makes it even more astounding that more people aren’t realising the benefits that it can deliver. It’s a simple and quick way to keep you driving in the right direction so that you arrive at the destination you want to. At the same time it has a calming effect, connects you with your inner-self and can be a game changer in helping balance the various and competing elements of life. It’s a must for anyone striving to live a healthier and happier life.
We’ve previously shared the importance of activity for the myriad of health and longevity benefits it delivers. In our next post we’re going to dive deeper into the choices available and how different types of exercise will be more effective and deliver better benefits for different types of people.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on self-reflection, what has or hasn’t worked for you, and any other comments or questions you have. Please reach out to us at any of our social media channels.