“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” – Aristotle
Do you feel your mind wander about your present life, your past or what you plan to do in the future? Whether you are doing it intentionally or unconsciously…what you are really going through is the process of SELF-REFLECTION.
When life gets too busy, it’s often easy to lose sight of what we truly want out of our life. Self-reflection gives us the clarity and direction we need to truly live our authentic life, by reconnecting us with our values and morals. From this we can go on to understand and recognize our goals and aspirations. Self-reflection is a crucial tool which helps us make better decisions for our future based on our past and current experiences.
The key is learning the many ways in which you can practice self-reflection…and making the TIME for it!
5 EASY TO STEPS FOR SELF-REFLECTION
- Ask Questions/Think
Self-reflection is all about putting your mind to work by analysing and understanding your past, present and future self. One of the easiest ways to start reflecting is asking yourself open-ended questions about your past, the decisions you have made and the impact it has on your present moment and what you can do to shape the type of future you want for yourself. The questions will naturally put you in a thinking state which helps you examine your life, leading to a deeper understanding of who you are and what you want out of life. Think about your current position or state of your life and if it’s what you want and what you would like to change.
Write your thoughts down to go back to them, journaling helps clear your mind while giving you great clarity. The key to self-reflection is HONESTY…have an open honest conversation with yourself and see where it takes you!
- Gratitude
Spend some time to remind yourself what you are grateful for in your life, this will help you realize what is truly important and of most value for you in your life. This is a great form of self-reflection, it will remind you and help you understand all the positive and good things in your life.
Practicing gratitude will remind you of all the positive aspects of your life and will help you train your mind towards the good and away from the negatives. This in turn will shape your thoughts, behavior, actions and life according to what truly makes you happy. Added bonus…it will help you feel calmer and increase contentment within yourself!
- Set Goals
Think about your future, what you want for yourself, what your values and morals are. Ask yourself open-ended questions about your future ambition and aspirations, this will lead to the goals you want to achieve and help you set them. Your goals will give you a direction in your path, whether it’s personal, relationship, career or life in general.
Write down your goals, it will allow you to go back to it, time to time and reflect how far you have come and what changes you need to make in your steps to get to them. And during your self-reflection, you may modify or change your goals you have set in your past, because it may not be what you want anymore…and that is perfectly okay! This is what self-reflection is…figuring out yourself and seeing if your life aligns with your true self.
- Meditation
Meditation increases your self-awareness by allowing you to recognize your thoughts and your feelings and emotions towards them as they arise. Sitting in silence gives you the space to pay attention to your mind and understand it better. It helps you clear your mind and gives you a sense of clarity of your past, present and future journey. So give yourself some quiet space to get in touch with your mind to gain a deeper understanding of yourself.
- Unplug from Distractions
It’s hard to figure out who you truly are, your values and morals and your aspirations with distractions surrounding you. So you first have to reduce the noise by unplugging from the distractions. One of the greatest distractions in the current era is…social media. Social media naturally leads your mind to compare the life of strangers to your own, and will make you feel worthless and not good enough. Seeing the life of others will distract you from understanding your true self, your mind manipulates you into thinking you want the life you see online, regardless if it’s truly what you want!
You cannot truly understand your core values and morals and how you want your life to be, while being in a chaotic environment with distractions pulling you in different ways. So UNPLUG from it…put down the phone…go outside and connect with nature. Be with the present moment, breathe in that fresh air and give yourself some quietness to clear your mind and reflect on what you truly want out of life.
CUP OF FINAL THOUGHTS ????
Spending time alone with your thoughts and feelings not only helps you understand who you are, but also allows you to appreciate how far you have come in life. Examine your past experiences, your current moment and the future aspirations, and pay attention to your feelings, sense and emotions that you go through which each of those thoughts. These reflections will allow you to understand yourself better and navigate life with more clarity.
The key is to make the time for it and schedule it in your routine. It could be anytime, as long as you have some quiet space to think and reflect. Most importantly when practising self-reflection…do not judge or criticise yourself…be open, be honest and be KIND!
It’s the little things that make all the difference…
