Wow and congratulations for making it to the end of 2019.
2020 is around the corner as we hit mid-December. It is now a great time to reflect on life. This could be over the last year, the last 5 years or even the last decade.
It’s important to reflect and look at the path that got us where we are today so that we are able to learn, grow and help plot future endeavors.
Whether you are a student, soon to be graduate, recent graduate or a professional, reflection should play a major role in helping you to achieve your success.
We often get lost in the rut of our daily routines and reflection gives us time to see ‘what occurred?’, ‘what could have been?’, and how to move forward knowing the answer to the former questions.
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Though goals are important, don’t get bogged down by them, rather focus on the process you have to do to get yourself closer to them. Process is more important than goals when it comes to reaching where you want to be, no matter what your goal is without actionable steps (the process) it is just a dream.
Focus on the right process with consistency and the goals will come.
(Related: How to Setup An Effective LinkedIn Profile)
Why Reflection is Important
Reflection is important since it is so easy to get lost in the daily task in life. We often neglect to think about why we do things and how we could have done things differently.
This will not only help give you more direction in where you want to be and have to accomplish, but also help you to stay motivated in working towards your goals.
Reflection works best when you write down your thoughts.
Don’t just think about it, write it down and make it tangible.
Pause & Reflect
You get time to pause and focus on your why.
By giving yourself time to pause and reflect, it allows you to better put the past into focus.
Without time for reflection, you are giving your time no space to learn from what has occurred in your life. You’ll keep doing the same daily task without realizing if it truly getting your the benefits you need.
When you give yourself time to pause and reflect, you are better able to align your daily actions with task that give you the best results to reach your goals. It also allows you to think about new ideas that you could implement into your life.
Ensure that you are giving yourself time to pause and reflect.
Core Values
Another reasons reflection is important is because it gives you a chance to reflect on your core values.
Many of us have core values, whether we know them or not. We all live by norms and mores that have been shaped by our individual experiences. These lead us to hold some fundamental things in life more near, dear and important than others.
If you know your core values then great. If you don’t then reflection is a great way to better understand what are your inward drivers for success.
Your core values should be the driving force in deciding what you do in your daily actions and habits.
Core values should be viewed as the why behind goals and actions.
By focusing on your core values, you are able to visualize the fundamental reason for doing what you do and this will help keep you motivated.
Helps Process Information
Reflection allows us to process and make meaning from all the learning and experiences we’ve had.
Learning and experiences may be good or they may be not so great. Either way it is important that you are able to lay out the information plainly so that you can internalize its meaning.
Reflection is a great way for you to lay out information on yourself and your accomplishments. Which then can be looked at as an easier way to process what could be complicated information about your life.
Use reflection as a tool for processing the complex information that is your life.
Map Desired Path
Now that you are clearly aware of what happened in your life over said time period and you thought about alternative present situations predicated on different choices you could have made during the same time period.
Once you have gotten these visualized in your mind (or on paper), reflection can be used to map out your desired path.
Many times we take the path with least resistance which is not always the path that will help us to grow or reach our desired goals.
Reflection helps in creating a mental map to better achieve the goals that you have set for yourself.
(Related: 4 Steps to Secure A Job After Grad School)
Good Reflection Questions to Ask
Some people find it difficult to reflect on their lives. I think this is due to 2 things; either they are scared to look at their lives retrospectively or they don’t know how to.
These questions will help you on your path to meaningful reflection. Note that these categories do blend and questions in one category can relate to another.
General Questions
- What do I want?
- Am I living true to myself?
- What am I most grateful for?
- Am I using my time wisely?
- What are my biggest strengths and flaws?
Personal
- Have I controlled the direction of my life this year?
- What have I done to help my loved ones accomplish their goals?
- Am I waking up in the morning ready to take on the new day?
- What has been the most enjoyable moment? Do I want to do more of that in the coming year?
- Which experience changed me the most this last year?
For Students
- What were some of the most interesting discoveries I made while working on this project? About the problem, About yourself, About others?
- How do I feel my solution relates to real-world issues?
- When was I most proud of the work I submitted?
- How will I use what I’ve learnt in the future?
- If there was one thing about myself above everything else that I want to improve, what would it be?
For Professionals
- Did I frequently fall behind on sleep, free time or my personal life as a result of my job?
- What are 3 tangible career goals I can set for myself for the new year?
- Did I make an effort to maintain a healthy work-life balance this year?
- How can I improve my productivity while I’m working?
- Am I in a job/career path that is truly the right fit for me? If no, why not?
How You Could Do Self-Reflection
If you are the type of person to write down your goals, then self-reflection is an ideal way to create a game plan for you life.
No goal is linear. There are always going to be iterations and changes that occur.
You can do self reflection by focusing on these 4 steps:
- Clear your mind
- Focus on what you have accomplished over [time period]
- Think about what you could have done differently and possible outcomes for this
- Consider which task you’ve done have given you the greatest return
By using the questions in the section before you can then use this to start your self-reflection process. Remember that you can do this as much or as little as you’d like.
The Reflective Cycle
Your experiences have shaped who you are today. The Reflective Cycle (aka the Gibbs’ Refelctive Cycle) is a 6 step process to assist you in reflecting on your experiences.
The first 3 steps focus on what happened. The second 3 steps focus on how you can improve.
1. Description
Write a description of the event(s) you are reflecting on. This step is about setting the scene and providing context for the remainder of the cycle.
2. Feelings
Describe the feelings you felt during the event(s) you are reflecting on. This is to create emotional context of the experience .
3. Evaluation
Evaluate the experience. What are the good and bad takeaways from the experience/event(s)? This is where you start to use critical thinking skills.
4. Analysis
Upon reflection you may find that there are alternative scenarios that may have unfolded if you made different decisions. This step is where you want to go beyond the experience and make sense of the experience in the context of the other things that were going on in your life.
5. Conclusions
This is where you draw conclusions on what your experience and truly understand the lessons learnt. You will want to reflect on what other options they were, its always possible you could have done something differently.
6. Action Plan
This is when you’ve finished reflecting and incorporated what you have learned to know how you would approach a similar situation in the future. This could be you committing and taking action on a plan or being equipped with the know-how for potential future scenarios.
Conclusion
2020 is right around the corner. Reflecting on all that has occurred over the last year can really put life and your next steps into perspective.
Reflection is important since it is so easy to get lost in the daily task in life. We often neglect to think about why we do things and how we could have done things differently.
Writing down your reflected thoughts can really help you to do a deep dive into your life.
Whether you use the Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle or another method for reflection. The important thing is that you are taking time to reflect on your past.
What has your reflection taught you?
