Self-Reflection

Ugh. This can be one of the most challenging things to do as a human being. When we look into a mirror, we see a version of ourselves looking back at us. Sometimes the hair’s a little greyer. Sometimes the chin’s a little…chinnier. Sometimes the wrinkles are a little…wrinklier. We sometimes (consciously or subconsciously) think about how to improve our looks. 

But what if we could hold a mirror up to our innermost thoughts, feelings, and convictions? That’s a whole different level of “ourselves looking back at us.” Yikes! It can be a scary place to go, and it can get really deep, really fast. But here’s the thing…if we don’t take time for self-reflection, we stagnate. If we don’t take time to really examine why we believe what we believe, we have a tendency to hold onto subconscious biases or other things that inhibit our growth.  

For me personally, over the course of time I’ve come to understand more fully the power of language and the impact it can have on someone (or a group of someones). And I’ve come to understand the power of compassion, dignity, and respect for all peoples. But I was only able to arrive here through (oftentimes painful) self-reflection.

But what I learned, through honest assessment and introspection, was how to strip away and disassemble the underpinnings of hurtful or misguided beliefs and reconstruct a framework that allowed me to see the world through a completely different lens. It didn’t happen overnight. Some of the self-reflection was intentional. Some of it was forced on me. But the end result was the same.

Each and every day, we have moments that become data points (and sometimes trigger points) for self-reflection – a conversation we had, an encounter at the grocery store, a TV show or movie we just watched, a book we just read, a walk in the park. There are truly an infinite number of engagement points that could contribute to self-reflection if we’re open to them.

A quote attributed to Confucius captures it well: “We do not learn from experience…we learn from reflecting on experience.”

One closing thought on self-reflection that I’ve discovered. Be honest with yourself. Brutally honest. It’s easier to lie to ourselves and justify our actions, thoughts, beliefs than we realize. Brutal honesty leads to real breakthroughs and growth.

Until next week.

Andy

(All written content created the old-fashioned way.)