How does your day pass by? Does it include time to truly reflect over your day and yourself? Are you so busy that when it comes to evening you are too tired to do anything else, let alone even to reflect over your day? When we are not reflecting over our day, some unhealthy patterns that we may not recognize are likely to repeat. By self-reflecting, we allow our minds to recap over our day, our behavior, our thoughts and our mood. There may be some moments that you realize that you are proud of and some that you are not proud of, therefore, would like to change. But how can you do that if you don’t self-reflect?
Self-reflection is essential for change within ourselves. It is imperative we are monitoring ourselves throughout the day so when we do reflect at the end of the day, we can see if we have made some progress. This also allows you to track habits and goals you may be working towards. SO many benefits come with self-reflection!
Here are 5 ways you can self-reflect!
Journal
This technique is not for everyone. However, if you enjoy writing and love journaling then this one is for you. Journaling is a effective way to get out your thoughts to paper. This can include gratitude, scripting the life you want, writing down positive moments of the day, acknowledging the downside of you day and what you would like to improve on, and so much more. Something I like to do to motivate me to journal is to buy a journal that I actually like and will inspire me to write in it. Sometimes thoughts and feelings that you did not know you were thinking or feeling will naturally come to you through writing. You can write anything in your journal including gratitude and even affirmations.
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Habit Tracker for Self-Reflection
This is one of my favorites! We all have habits we are trying to make and break but sometimes we don’t know if we are making any progress in them. A habit tracker allows you to write down habits you want to track in making or breaking and then each day you aim to make that habit occur or not occur and then at the end of the day you can sit down with your tracker and reflect on what habits you tried to break and what habits you worked towards making.
Self-Reflection Questions
This one can go hand in hand with journaling, however, the difference is that self-reflection questions are structured. You will have prewritten questions and at the end of the day you are able to answer them which gives you a lot to think about and can lead to many other thoughts you may not have recognized before! You can make your own or find some online. Here are some to get you started and hopefully inspire you to write your own. 7 Questions You Should Ask Yourself At The End Of Each Day | HuffPost Life
Practice Gratitude To Self-Reflect
Practicing gratitude has many benefits. When we take time out to write or say out loud what we are grateful for, we make ourselves think about our day and what occurred in our day that made us grateful for those moments. Gratitude allows us to focus on the positive which immediately places a positive feeling within us, therefore, we are able to overcome some difficult moments by focusing on the positive. This is such a great way to self-reflect especially when feeling the day did not go according to plan or any other negative thought or feeling you may have towards your day!
Name that emotion!
When we are busy during the day, sometimes it is difficult to name emotions we may be feeling throughout the day when events occur. Therefore, taking time out in the evening to reflect on the events that occurred will allow you to put a name to that feeling which in return allows you to think about how you handled it or coped with it. This gives you time to think about how you may want to cope/handle with it next time if it were to occur. Our days can be so hectic and busy that we may not know how to react to certain situations when it raises an emotion within us that may not be familiar to you. Taking time out to reflect allows you to process these emotions and become familiar with it.
Personal development is a journey that is rewarding for each individual. Self-reflection is an effective tool to getting to where you want to be emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. How do you self-reflect and have you used any of the above mentioned?
