What is self reflection?...
Self-reflection is the key to self-awareness. It allows us to look more neutrally at our thoughts, feelings, emotions and actions. Through this practice, we are able to look at ourselves with more interest and curiosity. Ultimately it helps us to learn, develop, appreciate and understand ourselves.
The benefits of self reflection enable us to....
-make sense of our day-to-day experiences
-come to decisions
-create a course of action to move forward
-challenge ourselves to switch off from our habitual ways of ‘just doing’
-learn from our experiences and crucially take this learning into the future
-realise where we may want to develop and improve next time
-realise where and how we use our skill/experience and attitude successfully
-acknowledge our achievements
-identify what lights us up and energises us most
How to reflect...
-Give yourself protected time (it doesn’t need to be hours, even ear-marking 10 minutes can be extremely effective)
-Give yourself uninterrupted space
-Ask yourself 'reflective questions' focusing on the topic/theme you want to explore (unsurprisingly I have a bank of such questions and some useful tools to guide you further so do get in touch if this would be beneficial for you)
-If it helps you to reflect with someone you trust and respect, let them know the role you’d like them to play and why – listening/questioning/challenging or a combination of all of these. Help them understand how they can be of most value to you.