The desire for success and happiness begins with your thoughts and action. It is time you start using self-reflection for personal development and as a tool for polishing your goals.
As humans, we are meant to grow mentally, physically, and spiritually. Other important elements help shape our future for the best. At the moment, I want to talk about why many people like me are using self reflection for personal development.
We have almost ended a whole year of 12 months and it is time to drop this article. The craziest year we have ever known(Coronavirus – 2020) is not going to be seen again. Hopefully, this pandemic will also say goodbye to us.
It tells us, there is time for everything and ‘change‘ in human development is inevitable.
A crazy year that shattered the goals of individuals, businesses, companies, and derailed us from our beautiful social lives. I believe it is time we put in some retrospective approach to examine our journey to achieving our dreams.
Before I go any further, let’s figure this out. What is self reflection?:
It is about your ability to pay attention to your own thoughts, emotions, decisions, and behaviors.
Now I want to develop this concept of self reflection and introspection in the best way anyone can use it to improve his very existence in all facets of life.
Do You Self Reflect Your Life At All?
I started by talking about auditing your goals in the early paragraphs of this post. When using self reflection for personal development, you make a mental comparison between your past, present, and equate them to the future. It might scare you or bring a sense of hope to you depending on your results. It works best by practicing this on daily basis.
Before you go to bed, ask yourself a few important questions about the things you were able to accomplish or failed to achieve.
More importantly, knowing how to use real-time self reflection during an intense/critical situation like arguments at the workplace, in the house or anywhere could be very helpful for your personal growth.
Put your thoughts, emotions, and behavior in constant check so that you do not make any irreparable mistake. If you really want to enjoy continuous progress in your life then prioritize what we called ‘self-awareness.’
In order not to get lost in your own world of self-development; Be opened, observative, and objective about your dreams.
If you already have a journal for your personal development, then I will advise you to flip some pages backward and answer these few questions:
1. What were your expectations before the year ends? Remember, expectations are different from goals.
2. What realistic goals did you set for the year?
3. How did you plan to mobilize resources and get the necessary help to accomplish your goals?
4. What was your needed time frame for your proposed achievements?
Now, after asking yourself these questions; look at yourself in the mirror. What do you see?
Do you love what you see?. Could that be a true reflection of your plans?.
I mean analyze your journal and figure out if you reflect on what you wrote some days, weeks, months, or years ago…
Perhaps, you need more room for improvement. There is no cause for alarm if you couldn’t reflect the beautiful architecture of your life in that journal.
Not everything you want would be achieved because you can’t control time and nature. Sometimes you would need insight from God.
“A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).
God’s will is something powerful and no one can thwart it. You would understand things better if the Lord is with you.
That dairy helps you to restructure yourself in a way you can derive the best out of your thoughts, actions, and certain events towards your future.
I do understand, how essential it is to use journals in life. You can have your normal dairy plus ‘thoughts journals’ which will help you weed out all the unimportant thoughts that crop up in your mind. Put any golden idea you randomly develop down before it vanishes from your memory forever.
You see, experts say the average person processes 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts a day. Out of this 85% is negative. This is the more reason why having a thoughts journal is also important.
The ‘You’ Factor
This whole thing about using self reflection for personal development is centered on you. Our society has a counter interactive perception by defining what a ‘normal life‘ should be. Because of that, almost everyone wants to fit in.
My friend don’t allow that absurdity to sink into your head. Never listen to people’s definition of you or what they say about you.
Their ill-thoughts may compel you to mirror the lifestyle of someone. And that’s funny because you become a copy of someone you are not.
In the process of self-development, how can you unearth the true you? You will end up feeling insecure, inadequate, unworthy, and failure.
Let me tell you this; out of the 7 billion people in our world today, 99.9% of people don’t even know you. And nobody cares about your struggles. So who are you trying to impress?.
Please be yourself and be the best version you could ever be; by reflecting on your life for your own success and happiness in a way that will make you a life-changer. Look at your reflection in the mirror… Be real.
How People Are Using Self Reflection For Personal Development
Self reflection is the path to self-growth. When you take a broader look at the things that happened in your past and compare them with your current situation. There should be a change.
If you find your current situation unpleasant or disappointing, then there are a whole lot of reconstruction to be made.
We are humans with so many flaws. By learning from past mistakes and weaknesses; we find the real potholes to fill so that we can drive smoothly on the reconstructive roads we are engineering for the future.
Using self reflection for personal development also requires tracking your life progress on regular basis.
Never lose focus on your goals. Although many obstructions will come your way. Hey, stay focused and committed to your goals.
The past is not a good place to stay and wine and dine. There is no way you can enjoy what you enjoyed in the past or travel back to correct what went wrong.
The past only helps you to know where you are coming from. It holds the history of who you used to be. Like having your health file at the hospital. Listen to what the Bible also says:
“I will sing a song that imparts wisdom; I will make insightful observations about the past” (Psalms 78:2).
The doctor uses your health history for future diagnoses so that you would enjoy an improved and progressive healthy lifestyle in the future.
Staying Positive
Stop entertaining negative thoughts and questions that will impede your own progress. Stop doubting yourself while you have your lofty goals right in front of you.
Avoid this kind of thoughts:
“What if it didn’t work out?”
“What if no one helps me?”
Stop these and all the negative thoughts that put you into depression. You might be angry with yourself. I know people who begin to hate their lives when their plans fail. This ain’t funny. It’s a real challenge.
Transform those negative feelings into something positive and affirm them. I think the law of attraction will come in here to help reconstruct a better future.
You are solely responsible for your self development so if you get used to self-sabotage then nobody will save you from drowning. Re-engineer your mindset by using past events and experiences as developmental tools.
If you believe an honest review of your recent life portrays you as a failure; then you have a better reason to up your game. After all, failure is part of the journey to a successful life.
I tell you the truth, most of us can revenge failure with success without any complaint.
Keep on auditing your life with eagle eyes. See-through the future with a clear lens. Yes!, you could be sure of a brighter future. Your thoughts, actions, and beliefs at the moment contribute to the kind of person you would be in the future.
Overcoming The Negative Feelings Of The Past
Would you feel bad if your goals fail to materialize? Probably. But that awful feeling is a kind of energy that could haunt you down like a ghost if you chose to think too much about what went wrong in the past. Let go of all the awful experiences and open a new page.
“Let this time in your life cut you open and drain all of the things that are holding you back. I’m going to help you forgive the things that you won’t let yourself forget”
—Jennifer Elisabeth
Science says energy cannot be destroyed but can be transformed. So why not transform that negative energy into positive energy?
Get back to your journal and dynamically rebirth your goals without making them lose their prime target. You can change the plan without changing the goal.
Keep on doing your best and all your laborious work will pay off in the long run. I hope you now have the confidence to keep sculpturing yourself into the best shape you want your life to be.