Why Reflect
As successful leaders, we need to reflect often to learn and grow.
In most normal everyday circumstances, we are largely unaware of our actions. Every action every day, provides us with the opportunity to develop.
We tend not to view our actions as sources of critical data nor do we readily take the opportunity to reflect and grow from these experiences.
It is however, in these very everyday actions that we can discover true gems of insight, wisdom and awareness that can be used to implement and improve daily progress. By staying alert to these opportunities we can learn more about ourselves and others.
Take time to reflect.
Set aside 15 minutes a day to stop, pause, breathe and look back on what happened in the course of the last 24 hours:
What was the greatest experience?
What did I learn?
Where was my greatest impact?
What could I have done differently?
Did I do something new that lead to new levels of productivity?
What did I enjoy?
What did I not enjoy?
What was fun?
What was hard?
What do I need help with?
What do we need to address critically tomorrow?
Did I check in with each of my team members today?
Where was I fearful?
Where was I helpful?
Did I practice trust?
What did I do to add value to?
What can I do differently next time?
By making a daily conscious effort to reflect on our experiences, rather than leave it to a last minute afterthought or only practice in an ad hoc fashion, we can grow and change our behaviour positively on a day-to-day basis.
Putting in a small amount of effort every 24 hours, will lead to great changes in our own progress long term. When we stay alert, we expand our consciousness and contribute more to each moment of our day. Through the process of continuous learning from experience, we become more effective in our actions and have greater insight and understanding of our behaviours. Our insights over time lead to greater learning so that our impact and growth becomes more and more profound.
This is how we gain greater leverage from all elements of our leadership, career and our daily lives.
No Comments