Make time for regular self-introspections
Self-introspection helps to build emotional self-awareness and lead you to a more fulfilling life.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day aspects of life and forget to pause, self reflect, and look at the bigger picture. Slowing down and taking time to think about your life is extremely helpful in creating a better sense of you are, who you want to be, and how you will get there.
According to expertenough.com, self-introspection and reflection are all about getting to know yourself at the core, uncovering your values and then deciding for yourself what’s the best action to take. It’s about moving away from the way you’ve been conditioned, away from the systems that try to hold you in place and bring your focus of control back to where it belongs, within you.
Reasons why it is beneficial to do a self- introspection:
Self-introspection helps to build emotional self-awareness. By taking the time to ask yourself the important questions, you gain a better understanding of your emotions, strengths, weaknesses and driving factors. Once you understand the important aspects of the self, you become better able to adapt to changing situations and tough circumstances.
READ: Embracing yourself in an unkind world
Integrity increases when you take time to reflect and do some introspection on core values such as your family life, love life, your well-being etc. Having a clear understanding of what values you deem most important puts them at the forefront of your mind and strengthens your decisions.
Our lives often become a cycle of doing/producing where we try to maximise productivity and minimise time spent. When acting and moving from one thing to the next we sometimes forget to stop and think. Taking time to think, allows for new ideas to emerge and counters the risk of becoming stagnant. New ideas and continuous change, no matter what your situation, is necessary.
Here are some questions to get you thinking, according to The Centre of HAS:
- Who are you?
- What are you most proud of?
- What are you most grateful for? What is most important in your life? Is your allocation of time congruent with what you find most important?
- Who are the 5 people you spend the most time with? Are these people enabling you or holding you back?
- What are your biggest goals? What is stopping you from pursuing them?
- Strength and support are all around us. Where is support available to you already? Who can you share your goals with, or ask for support?
- What are the biggest things you have learned in the last year? How can you use your past experiences to help you in the future?
- Where do you put your attention and energy when you are overwhelmed or stressed? Is this how you want to spend your resources?
READ: Thursday thought: Be proud of your progress
While reflecting on yourself and your environment is a healthy and adaptive practice, it should be undertaken with some care and rationality. Enhancing your ability to understand yourself and your motivations and learn more about your own values helps you take the power away from the distractions of the modern, fast-paced life, and bring your focus back where it belongs (Wood, 2013).
Click on the words highlighted in red to read more on this and related topics.
To receive news links via WhatsApp, send an invite to 061-876-3179
The Southlands Sun is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest – why not join us there?
Do you have more information pertaining to this story?
Feel free to let us know by commenting on our Facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031-903-2341 and speak to a journalist.
(Comments posted on this issue may be used for publication in the Sun)
