What happens when you practice self-reflection regularly?

Self-reflection is a means to observe and analyze oneself in order to grow as a person. It is a form of introspection, wherein, by understanding who you are now and who you’d like to become, you help identify the steps you need to achieve your goal. It is the habit of deliberately paying attention to your own thoughts, emotions, decisions, and behaviors.  

We live such hustled and bustled lives these days that we don’t have the time to stop and reflect where we have reached and how we reached there. Self-reflection is extremely essential for us in order to keep track of ourselves, our progress and our failures. Asking ourselves why something happened and what could have been done in a better way will help us be more in tune with our growth.   

But how does self-reflection contribute to all this? And what happens when you practice self-reflection diligently and regularly? Here are a few answers!  

1. You will become increasingly self-aware.

By practicing self-reflection, you are asking yourself important as well as daunting questions, such as – ‘How did I act in the particular situation?’, ‘How could I have reacted better?’, ‘How did the particular situation make me feel?’. These are questions we don’t ask ourselves in our everyday lives. Therefore, when we sit down to reflect on such questions and challenge ourselves to answer them, we are in turn getting to know ourselves better and at the same time, becoming increasingly self-aware.  

2. You will be able to identify and rectify your mistakes more meticulously.  

  When you reflect on any situation or decision you’ve made, you are going back to those situations and analyzing them from a third person’s perspective. This lets you look at a situation you have lived from a completely different lens – and thus, you will be able to identify your mistakes more mistakes more meticulously. This will give you a chance to understand the mistakes and take conscious steps to rectify them. If it was not for self-reflection, you would not be able to understand your actions so deliberately. But now, you can!  

3. You will be able to track your goals routinely. 

One of the major impacts of self-reflection is that your goals can be tracked. You set a certain goal and start working towards them. However, if you don’t stop to track your progress, you will never know how far you’ve come. Not having that knowledge can make the process and tedious and demotivating. On the other hand, if you adapt to the habit of regular self-reflection, you will be able to track your goals and underline your progress. Not only will you be able to be aware of your progress but it can also serve as an intangible reward for being so determined and coming this far.  

4. Your self-confidence will improve. 

Our self-confidence is often fluctuating and dependent on situations, which is not a healthy pattern. Noone and no situation should have the power to control our confidence. One of the ways to practice developing a positive self-esteem is self-reflection. When you regularly practice self-reflection, you will have to face yourself every day. This also means, you will be spending more time with yourself and being more comfortable in your skin. You will also be taking active steps towards your growth. All of this will contribute to your self-confidence.  

In a nutshell, self-reflection is absolutely indispensable if we want to work towards our overall growth. It will benefit us tenfold and contribute to our progress, and success.