The purpose of reflection
The purpose of reflection is to give yourself the opportunity to explore the past. Examine what has happened, the wins (small and large), your personal and business growth, and the learning this offers.
Stop right now to reflect and question the year you’ve experienced in a positive way. Use this exercise to ask yourself the following questions:
- Where and how have I changed?
- What have I achieved?
- What am I most proud of and why?
- How did I overcome the challenges?
- Is there anything I could have done differently?
- What have I learnt?
This isn’t’ about berating yourself
Remember the words I used above, ‘question in a positive way’? Reflection should never be about giving yourself a hard time for what wasn’t achieved, never about beating yourself up over the goals or targets you didn’t hit.
Certainly not for 2020, a year that none of us could have predicted (although I think Bill Gates did in a TED Talk).
This is a year that each of us will have experienced differently, but where there is goodness if you take the time to seek it out. Perhaps your Facebook group grew, you increased your number of subscribers, introduced a new programme, or changed the way you work.
Perhaps all of this was you (without knowing) preparing the business for the success that is coming. Maybe the past twelve months were when you reconnected with your purpose and why. It was for me, meaning you will experience way more clients, money, and time in 2021.
See the past twelve months as part of your story so far
Overnight success doesn’t happen, well, perhaps for a few. A business journey has ebbs and flows, ups and downs—it’s a passage of discovery, which is how it should be. While we can speed up the process by learning from others, it will always be your journey. It’s why I talk about creating your personal blueprint for success: You’re totally unique, and therefore, so is your business.
Reflection influences your planning
It helps you understand if your habits and actions are right for future success, as opposed to your business of today. Learning positively from the past informs your plan for the future, connecting you more deeply with that plan and making it easier to implement and achieve.
The beautiful thing is ‘you are right where you are supposed to be and everything you need to be’. How amazing is that?
Take time to reflect, knowing that the journey you’ve been on has brought you to this point and will help you move on to the next.
Can I help you reflect?
Are you struggling to see the good, the learning, or how this can influence your forward planning? Then I invite you to book a Clarity Coaching Call, my gift to you. You can access my diary here.