Do you ever feel like time is whizzing by?
It feels like it was Christmas, I blinked, somehow now we are in the middle of March.
It's almost Spring!
Huh?
Of course, time is relative. One of my favourite quotes comes from Albert Einstein who wrote :
“Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.”
Perhaps this explains why these happy days feel like they are whizzing by. I'm dedicated to making 2016 my Happiest and Successful year yet and I know that ultimately this comes down to the things I do on a daily basis, in other words, what I do with my time. It's easy to feel like time is slipping away, which makes it vital to take a step back, look back and reflect.
I'd like to share 3 reasons why, I believe, it's important to make reflection a regular exercise, whether daily, weekly or monthly.
1. To learn from Past Mistakes.
Mistakes/Errors/Blunders- whatever you want to call them. They happen. Although sometimes we like to pretend we are perfect, we really aren't. One of my most recent slip-ups happened during a Coaching Session taking place at my home, I glanced down to see one of my worn and abandoned socks peeking out behind the leg of a Coffee table. Luckily my Client didn't seem to see (or smell) it.
The bumps in the Road are part of the journey and are opportunities for us to learn and grow.
Look back at the last few months and ask yourself: What didn't go as planned? Followed by the question, What did that teach me? What can I do differently next time?
Remember, as Steve Denn said
“You can never make the same mistake twice because the second time you make it, it's not a mistake, it's a choice.”
2. To look back at the Successes
Celebrating our Successes is something I bang on quite a lot about but I really believe that generally, we don't give ourselves enough credit for our achievements. Whatever is happening in your life right now, you are Rocking some areas of your life! There may be 99 things going left but there will be at least 1 going right.
We have a choice what we focus on, so why not spend time focusing on the good?
Spending some time acknowledging our Successes serves as a reminder that we have greatness within us and will help to motivate us toward working hard towards our goals.
What is working well for you currently?
What has contributed towards the Success?
3. To remind us what our Goals are and to Assess our next steps.
Slow things down. What are the Goals you set for yourself recently? It's easy to get up in the current of life, we can end up drifting off in a completely different direction to the one we originally set our sights on.
By slowing things down and realigning with the destination we can evaluate whether we are on course.
Ask yourself, what is the Goal/Outcome I'm working toward? What direction am I heading in? What are the next steps I need to take?
Taking time to reflect is important as there are pearls of wisdom to be discovered in each our past experiences. The word Reflect stems from the word 'Reflectere' which means to bend back.
Strangely, the image of a Ruler pops into my head when I read bend back and I think back to School days. Mischievously bending the top of a Ruler back to catapult a small piece of rubber across the classroom in the direction of an unsuspecting peer. The most Successful 'Ruler propelled Rubber attacks' were when you had a Clear target and a strong bend back. Crucially, It's the Bending Back that provides momentum.
Use your reflections to propel you powerfully towards your goals.
If you enjoyed this and want more inspiration & tools to think better, feel better, and live better - then here is what you can do right now...
1. Visit the shop & download an E book version of my book, Becoming Unstuck: your simple step by step guide to taking charge of your life, by clicking here
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