It is quite amazing what you can achieve when you use the act of reflection and I’m not talking about checking yourself out in the mirror. In my early 20’s, I spent half a day imagining I was 90 years old, looking back at my life and thought of what I was proud of having done and what I regretted. This changed the course of my life forever.
New Year is the perfect time to reflect and it can include an audit as to what your year was like, how you developed as a person, what your goals are for the year coming up and what you need to do to continue to keep evolving.
The act of journaling is a powerful way to reflect and includes writing about your thoughts, feelings, insights, action plans and learnings. You can star t writing down questions such as: ‘what were my major achievements, what is blocking me from growing as a person, what are the areas I need to develop further, how to overcome my weaknesses.’
It’s important to include stuff that you don’t feel comfortable writing down and to be as brutally honest as possible. The more open you are with yourself, the more likely it is that you’ll get more out of it. Sometimes people avoid writing down the truth as it can be confronting and anxiety provoking. The reality is that once you confront something and have an action plan as to how to deal with it, it no longer controls you. The old adage that it’s the journey not the destination that counts is true and the method of reflection can mean you spend more time doing what is fulfilling on the camp voyage of life.