What did you learn last week?
No, this is not going to be another opinion piece about the election. Thank god. I think I overdosed on those last week.
WHAT DID YOU LEARN LAST WEEK?
When you rack your brain, are you able to recall just one thing that you learned last week? It doesn't have to be something novel, or something profound. Just anything! What did you learn?
If you're struggling to come up with even 1 thing, this is for you...
You fall into 1 of these 2 categories:
- Either you live a really safe and boring life, of which you don't have any new experiences that warrant learning. Or....
- You don't self reflect, and therefore don't learn anything for the experiences you are having.
So which is it? And please don't tell me the former because I won't believe you!
I get it. You're busy. Guess what? Me too! We're all busy. We all have too much on our plate and not enough time or resources to do it all. But you CAN'T afford NOT to self reflect. Here's why:
WHEN WE SELF REFLECT...
- We become more aware. We learn what we like and don't like about the things we do. And if you don't like something, now you can do something about it!
- We experience 20/20 hindsight. Yes, things are much clearer after the fact. So use that clarity to your benefit. What would you change? What should you do differently next time?
- We learn. Most learning doesn't happen in the "doing" phase or the "taking direction" phase or the "advice/suggestion" phase. Learning happens when we reflect on what happened.
DO YOU LIKE MAKING THE SAME MISTAKES TWICE?
That's what I thought! You can prevent that by making time to self reflect. November is the first month in which I specifically set aside time to self reflect on my business. It was difficult to commit to. Didn't feel necessary at the time I was putting my calendar together. Now, being towards the end of the month, I'm glad I had the time to reflect on what went well this month, what was a failure, and what I can do differently going forward.
WHAT'S THE OTHER OPTION?
To not self reflect. Ok... so don't gain clarity, don't learn what you could do different, and don't make improvements to your life. Perfect. Who's taking that approach?
So basically, there's no good alternative. You can't afford no to self reflect.
If that was too many double negatives for you, allow me to simplify:
Find the time and create the space in your life for self reflection. The outcomes are generous, and the alternatives are non-existent.