I have always heard people telling me to self-reflect whenever I make a mistake. It always made me wonder how self-reflection can help me be better. It was later when I actually applied this in my life, I realized that I could not only identify my flaws but also manage my personal growth. If we ever delve deeper in self-reflection, we will realize its significance. It is very difficult to be one’s own critique. Sometimes, we tend to be too hard on ourselves while sometimes, we may find it hard to pick out our own flaws. Being objective about oneself is difficult since everyone tends to be a little bit bias but it can be developed like any other skill.
Personal reflection encourages us to do better in our lives. Its benefits can be reaped earlier if self-reflection is inculcated at an early age. For example: In school going students, self-reflection can be encouraged by making them keep a record of their improvement, helping them set their own goals and guiding them to work towards them. Writing diary entries can also be a good means to record one’s thoughts. The benefit of this will be that the children from a very young age will develop critical thinking and navigate through their own journey. They will be able to point their own lacking areas and work on them to grow.
This develops a deeper understanding of the world and people tend to generally become more self-aware and socially-aware. Reflection gives an opportunity to process the inside of one’s brain as well as outside. Practicing self-reflection takes self-discipline and a willingness to learn. When you will self-reflect, you will be able to recognize many of your weaknesses, not everyone can be easily accepting of them since all of us have some level of insecurities, so it is needed to throw that fear way and let yourself learn more about yourself.
Many people may think that it is useless and stick to doing what they have always been doing but living a life without self-reflection remains futile. Having a reflective thinking is essential to get through one’s difficult life situations. Emotions can cloud your judgments which may sway you away from looking at things from a different perspective. Self-reflection allows you to take a step-back and analyze the situation from a broader point of view and then create an appropriate response to it.
Meditation can help a lot in your journey of self-reflection. Creating a space for yourself so that you have time to self-reflect is the first step. It is basically an ability to live a well-balanced life.