Ask Questions.  As another way to approach reflecting, Donald Latumahina suggests listing a lot of questions in four different domains of our lives.  Here are the areas he suggests, and a few questions I came up with to prime the pump.

1.Material– Have we been able to reduce debt, add to savings, and spend wisely? What is the      next career step, and how are we progressing towards it?  Are we in      control of our possessions, or are they in control of us?

2.Spiritual– Do we feel fulfilled? Why or why not? Whatever our belief set, how well are we practicing its precepts?  What about meditation or reflective reading?  What would our obituary say if it only covered the past year – what reasons have we given others to say we were a good person?

3.Physical– What do we do to stay healthy? How often do we exercise, and is that  adequate?  How could we be more active even without a formal program?  Is the food we eat helping or hurting our efforts to reach fitness goals, or to lead a healthy life?  Do we get enough sleep?

4.Social – How would we rate the quality of our key relationships with spouse, family, and friends? What could we do to improve them?  Have we made new friends in the past year? How well did we stay connected to old ones?  Do all our friends look just like us, or could we stand to have a little more variety in interests, background, and culture?

Reflecting – The Takeaway

There is no officially approved way to reflect, but we can set ourselves up for success if we do it in a new place, free from distraction, and with a ready pen and an open mind.

Choose an approach that feels comfortable, and get started.  The simple act of sitting down and beginning the process sets us apart.  One survey found that 95% of people think they are self-aware, but only 10-15% of them truly are. 

And from a leadership perspective, over time, teams tend to mimic the actions and attitudes of their leaders.  If we are not happy with what we see on our teams, the first person we should sit down and have a candid talk with is ourselves.

Explore thyself. Herein are demanded the eye and the nerve. – Henry David Thoreau Click To Tweet

Three final thoughts here:

Notice the little things.  Often, it’s not the hail-Mary pass but the slow and steady plodding that lead to our eventual success.  We should note what those reliable but unspectacular actions were, and how they have paid off, so we are more inclined to repeat them.

Capitalize on the lessons.  All this reflecting is nothing more than a pointless navel lint inspection exercise unless we apply what we learn to our actions in the future.  For areas that are important to us, plan to do more of the good things and less of the bad things.  Write down specifically what they are, in the active voice: “I will continue to eat the way a healthy person eats because that’s how I lost weight this past year.”

Show some gratitude.  No great achievement is done alone, nor do we overcome adversity without help.  As part of our reflection, we should list the people who have helped along the way.  And if we really mean it, we should also send them a nice note of thanks.  In pen.

The point of reflecting on the past is so that we can make the future a better place to be.  Maybe the best way to start the new year is by thanking the people who helped us get through the old one.

Original Information Resource:

https://www.rapidstartleadership.com/reflecting/