I'm back then.... Yey. (On self-reflection)

Almost a YEAR to come back and write daily logs about life, about my day or just and interesting theme that I just learned or that I would like to share my experience. But, that is quite some time, I guess that I never really built the writing habit that I want, but things might come around.

I want to kick in the first post about self-reflection which is something I've been doing for a few years now. With ups and downs being constant but I count it as habit now.

Well, new year, new goals, new life.... Oh, wait, is just July haha

I really like the middle of the year, is a very important date and most people don't realize it. Is the end of a very important month, the end of the second quarter of the year, and just exactly half of the time that you have to accomplish those barbaric goals you set just 6 months ago.

If your birthday has passed already (mine was in April) you can wonder what you'll do with these coming months until you get older next year, and if it hasn't, you wonder what you can do before you get a digit older.

Most importantly it's a perfect time to remember all the good and bad things that happened to you, all those key moments and experiences, and to practice one of the best habits you can develop in your life.

Self-reflection, not the same as self-awareness or self-knowledge which are also great skills, but self-reflection, more than a skill, is a discipline that we all should build in our lives. It actually allows you to have the other two "self.." skills and it works wonders if you are looking to improve, which we all should.

Is not an easy feat though. Not even close, is a mentally painful process that many people struggle with.

Self-reflection, doing it the right way, challenges you to rememorate, not only the good things, but to relive (is that a word?) the most memorable bad things that happened to you in that day, week or, in this case, half the year. No matter if it was a great week where you accomplish many things, or a week where you just barely got out of bed every day, at the end, self-reflection should always be there.

Ohhh but it doesn't stop there, no no, no.

Proper self-reflection means, to check, not only the things that happened TO YOU but (and maybe with more focus) to see and analyze what did YOU DO, or didn't, to reach your goals, how you reacted to those external factors and is there to help you decide if you did the right thing or not.

Now, I don't know about you, but for me, this is one of the hardest things in the world, and that's why most people don't do it.

In simple words, self-reflection is constantly checking on yourself, putting your actions under the light, and looking at the good and the bad clearly enough to make decisions and, with time, changes.

And, this is where the importance of self-reflection lies. As mentioned before, it's the habit that helps you develop those crucial skills to know more about yourself (self-knowledge) every day and to give you the clarity to see if what you're doing it's aligned with your goals and your path (self-awareness).

Practicing Self-reflection

You can apply self-reflection to anything. A general self-reflection of a time frame, reflecting on your day, your week, or even months and years. You can reflect on your performance in your job, in your love life, I even learned from an amazing guy that has a journal to count, and reflect, the rejections that he has every day.

Remember, the key is to start. Start with something simple like checking how your week went, make a short paragraph of the great things that happened, the things that you can do better, and even things that you feel proud of. And, it will also help you practice your memory.

So, embark on this journey of self-reflection, and maybe reflect on how the self-reflection is working for you down the road, and you can later reflect on that.... Bad joke, hahaha. But seriously, I'm no expert, but, I've done it for a while now and it has worked for me. It might work for you too.

Cheers