We need to take time for ourselves to reflect more often. The most common time of the year where people reflect seems to be in the last 2 weeks of December. It’s definitely a great way to see what we’ve accomplished and what we’re are proud of — but why don’t we reflect year round?
Time. We never have enough “time” because we’re so focused on being inautopilot rather than being present. We need to take time to acknowledge what we are doing in the present and appreciate our past.
There’s so much that we accomplish throughout the year that we need to be celebrating. Those accomplishments and celebrations are what keep us driven and motivated for our next goal. We take so much time and effort to make our goals come to life, but when they are accomplished we forget to celebrate ourselves and reflect on what we’ve learned from the process.
“Sometimes, you have to look back in order to understand the things that lie ahead.” — Yvonne Woon
I encourage each of you to incorporate reflection year round in your 2019 and focus on what you want to get out of life. Reflection can be practiced in many different ways.
Below are 4 ways to practice reflection this year:
- Journaling — Taking time out of your day to write down what comes to mind and what you’ve experienced. There’s no specific way to journal. You can do this daily, once a week, once a month, or even once every 3 months. The way you do it is completely up to you, but this is a way for you to just check in with yourself.
- Vlogging — This is similar to journaling, but instead you’re creating videos on whichever platform you’re most comfortable with. For example, I’m recording myself daily on my MacBook so that I can become more comfortable on camera. It’s also a great way to reflect for those who don’t want to write everything down. You can keep these videos to yourself or even share them with others.
- Practice Gratefulness — At the end of the day, take time to acknowledge 3 things you’re grateful for. You can either write them down, say them out loud to yourself, or tell a friend or your partner. There are so many ways of doing this and the benefits are so impactful.
- Meditation — This is an extremely popular outlet for many people. Meditation allows people to slow down and focus on themselves and where they are at right now in the present moment. You can also meditate and reflect on times when you experienced happiness, were grateful, or had a difficulty that you overcame.
There’s so much we want to accomplish and do in our lifetime, but we tend to get stuck at times because we don’t know what we’ve accomplished or what to do next.
In reality we all get stuck, there’s no avoiding it — but there are ways to get unstuck. This is called resilience. We can start working on ways to really bounce back from situations that heighten our emotional state. It’s much easier said than done, but it’s all about raising your consciousness to becoming more resilient. Reflection is a great way to check in with yourself to see all the obstacles you’ve overcame and goals you have accomplished.
What a massive merger and acquisition at my previous job had taught me was that every day things can change. Change is the new form of constant.Don’t allow the changes in your life to take over.
Take control of the change in your life by having control of how you react to change.
Thanks for reading — -