Happy Sunday everyone!
What does your Sunday look like? The final end to our week! For some, they dread it because they know the depressing Monday morning syndrome is only a sleep away. However, for others it is a time to reflect on the week they had. What went well, what didn’t go so well, what are your goals for the upcoming week. For me, Sundays are always a reflective one and of course the excitement for Sunday dinner is real people!
As I lay in bed with my laptop placed on my lap, my hot water bottle firmly on my stomach and my eyes filled with that “good sleep eye bogies”, I was in two minds of what to discuss in this post. And then it came to me – REFLECTION. To be able to reflect is important. It is what truly shapes the decisions we make in the future and why we made them. Not all our decisions will be GREAT – even though in that moment you may have thought it was the best decision you could make, it could end up being a really bad decision which has negative impacts on yourself and people around you. This has happened to me hundreds of times, trust me it is normal.
You may have lashed out on someone you love without talking to them in a civilised manner first. You may have had a crappy week at work because you’ve been over piled with work commitments. You may have had the best week because you got a work promotion, you’ve found a way to monetise your passion, you’ve started dating this really cool guy or maybe the guy you’ve been talking too has suddenly aired all your messages and now you find yourself in bed looking at your phone every 5 minutes while binge watching Netflix. Whatever it is! REFLECT.
When you reflect on your days, your weeks, your months, you can really pinpoint what the highlights were for you and what wasn’t. Even if it appears everything went complete “tits-up” – it’s important to find a good highlight even if it is the smallest thing.
At any stage you are in life, we are all learning. Learning in our 20’s, learning as students, learning as parents, learning as CEO’S, managers, employees, you name it. YOU ARE LEARNING! The only way we can fully learn and grow from experiences that we have is if we make it a habit to reflect on those experiences. Instead, when we fail to reflect, we are constantly thinking about and holding experiences (many of them bad) heavy on our hearts. This will never work!
Make it a habit to use one day in your week to reflect and journal about your week and what your plans are for the week ahead and how you aim to get there. This can be really comforting to you.
Why should I reflect?
Thought you’d never ask. Reflection allows us to gain self-awareness in ways we thought wed never have. It allows you to review your days and experiences so that you can always become better and do better.
Here are the benefits:
You are not carrying any personal baggage.
I found that when I don’t reflect, the old baggage I had from the week before will always find its way to creep into the week I am currently having. It becomes annoying and draining to say the least. Therefore, being able to start each day and each week as a fresh slate is extremely important.
You can learn from your mistakes.
When we don’t reflect, we are more inclined to make the same mistakes that we keep making. You will never learn, even if people are telling you, you always have to be the one to look into yourself and learn from your own mistakes and failures so that you can be the best possible version of yourself.
It gives you perspective
Perspective. This is something that is so important. We get so wrapped up in our daily lives that we often forget that we need to take a step back and think. You begin to realise that things that have allowed us to become upset and angry are nothing worth getting mad about and in reality, they are not that important. When you take a step back and look into the situation from a bird-eye view you start to realise what really is important to you.
You can be better and grow.
Be better and grow are literally some of my favourite words. never fall into the trap of being stagnant. To grow we need to reflect. What makes us better? What will allow us to grow? What are your strengths and your weaknesses and how can you build on these to be a better version of you?
Love,
I Am Tiffany 