Why and How to Self-Reflect
Consistent self-reflection is highly important in maintain balance and stability in life. It is so easy to get swept away in the little details of life that many people often forget to regularly take a step back and reflect on the bigger picture. So being able to take time out to evaluate your life path, goals and actions is a great way to see whether you are truly happy with where you are in life and how to improve yourself.
What is self-reflection?
Self-reflection is the action of examining yourself, your goals, your work and personal lives, your attitudes and the direction that you want to take in the future. It looks at the bigger picture of where you are standing, and help you see whether you are genuinely satisfied with your current and potential positions in life.
Why should I self-reflect?
The bigger picture
It is always important to take some time to consistently and regularly reevaluate yourself because if you do not, you may wind up worrying about the little day-to-day problems of your life that do not matter. Many people often focus and waste all of their energy on small, trivial matters that occur in their daily lives, and therefore forget about spending time and effort focusing on their fundamental values and beliefs that would actually emotionally and mentally benefit them in the long term. This often makes them feel exhausted and demotivated. Thus, self-reflecting helps reenergize individuals because it allows them to see the insignificance of small, daily problems, which therefore allows them to refocus on the truly important values of their lives. This helps them maintain happiness and self-satisfaction.
Self-awareness
Self-reflection helps build emotional self-awareness as it allows you to examine every aspect of yourself, which enhances awareness of personal strengths and weaknesses. By understanding your strengths and weaknesses, it would become much easier to find new ways and ideas to self-improve until you are satisfied with yourself.
How do I self-reflect?
The best way to self-reflect is to allow yourself to have some time to sit by yourself and ask yourself a series of introspective questions. To achieve this, first you would need to find a quiet, relaxing environment that you feel comfortable in. Following that, you should ask yourself questions that would make you reflect on your personal beliefs, habits and actions. Whenever you answer a question, make sure to note it down so you can come back to it later to remind yourself of your core values and beliefs. Some of the best questions you can ask yourself are listed below.
- Who are you?
- What are the qualities that you are most/least proud of?
- Who are you grateful for and why?
- What are your most important long-term goals?
- How happy are you with where you are right now?
- What do you want to learn or improve on in the next ten years?
- Do you have a method of relaxation whenever your life becomes tough? Is this method heathy and does it promote self-growth?
- What are the most impactful lessons that you have learnt recently?
- Do you have a tight, supportive network of family or friends? Who are the people that you would most often reach out to for advice?
- How are you going to apply your self-reflection into daily life?
