An important practice in a mental health journey is self-reflection. This involves being aware of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It is the process of examining your own thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to better understand who you are and what goes on internally. Self-reflection can be a valuable tool for individuals to identify and address any negative patterns or thought processes that may be impacting their well-being. This is an essential tool for our personal growth.
Benefits
Self-reflection allows us the opportunity to align our values and behaviors together. It can increase our self-awareness, providing us the chance to gain a deeper understanding and recognize our strengths and weaknesses. This, in turn, can increase our self-confidence as we are aware of our strengths and achievements, therefore developing a greater sense of who we are. Self-reflection can also help us improve our decision making because we are able to reflect on our past experiences and analyze different options. It can also help to reduce stress and anxiety, and helps us with our personal growth. We are then able to identify areas of growth and development, and set goals to achieve them.
Self-reflection how-to
One of the downfalls of this strategy is becoming obsessive and turning it into self-judgment, which would be the opposite effect of what we are looking to accomplish. To stay on a healthy path of self-reflection, follow these few steps:
- Schedule self-reflection into your daily routine – This can be whenever you have a moment or need a moment to focus on yourself. Leave yourself about ten minutes of uninterrupted time to reflect.
- Find what works for you – Self-reflection can occur in many forms and everyone enjoys something different. It can occur when you are on a walk, taking a shower, cleaning up your space, or writing in a journal. Give each of these a chance to see what works better for you and your introspective time. Once you find one or a few that work for you, stick to those and schedule your self-reflection around when you are able to do any of the above.
- Stick to a topic – For the most part, we all live very busy lives and have multiple things going on at the same time. If you are struggling with this practice, feel you do not have enough time, or have too much to reflect on, find a theme or topic to stick too for that scheduled self-reflection and focus on that for a day or two. Repeat the topic or begin new topics or themes as needed.
Self-Reflection Questions
If you are unsure where to start, consider any of the following questions to get you started.
- What are my sleeping habits like and do I feel rested and refreshed when I wake up?
- Am I having trouble focusing on work or school? Can I concentrate on things I like to do more?
- What are my strengths and weaknesses?
- How do I feel most of the time? Relaxed? Anxious? Nervous? Happy? Comfortable?
- What are my values?
Review
Self-reflection is a powerful tool that can help us gain a deeper understanding of ourselves, our experiences, and our goals. By taking time to reflect, we can identify areas where we can improve, celebrate our successes, and make more informed decisions about our lives. There are many benefits to self-reflection, and by making time for this practice, we can become more grounded, more compassionate, and more fulfilled individuals.
About Therapist Bethany Winter, MA, LPC Barnum Counseling
Habash, C. (2022, February 1). What is self-reflection? why is self-reflection important? Thriveworks. Retrieved April 27, 2023, from https://thriveworks.com/blog/importance-self-reflection-improvement/#:~:text=Self%2Dreflection%20is%20the%20key,do%20I%20feel%20this%20way%3F%E2%80%9D
(n.d.). Self reflection – benefits, importance, and how to do it: Toggl Track. Self Reflection – Benefits, Importance, and How To Do It | Toggl Track. Retrieved April 26, 2023, from https://toggl.com/track/self-reflection/#:~:text=Self%20reflection%20can%20help%20you,develop%20your%20sense%20of%20identity.
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