Self-reflection can mean many things. It can mean reflecting on a career or even a friendship. Being able to self-reflect on experiences will help you grow and understand why that didn’t work out as you planned it. I’m an overthinker and an introvert, so self-reflecting is not hard for me since I do it all the time for the smallest issues. Like for example, I think about what I could have said in a conversation I had or even what I could have written in a blog post. I always make a cringe face after doing something because I knew that I was going to think about it later. But not always self-reflecting makes me annoyed. It pushes me to do better so I don’t have to deal with the thought of it later. Sometimes self-reflecting can be hard if you don’t want to look at the past and wish memories can be pushed deep down in your brain but being able to self-reflect those memories will help you not make the same mistakes you have made before. So here are some reasons why self-reflection is important.
Allows You To Respond And Not React To Certain Things
Have you ever been heated up in a conversation that made you upset, and you wish you could have said something else and not reacted that way? This is why reflecting on situations makes sure you don’t have to wish anymore about the things you could have said and end the conversation with what you want to say. Having time to self- reflect on a conversation makes sure you are not reacting a certain way that you will regret. The ability to respond to any tough decision will make you not compelled to react to things that upset you.
A Better Understanding Of Your Emotions
Self-reflecting makes you look back at your emotions and ask yourself how you feel. I am known to want to keep going if I feel sad and act like I’m fine when I should be feeling that emotion. This can lead to being confused and unhappy with yourself because you are not expressing your emotions. Spending more time and asking yourself how you feel on a topic will help you move on more than hiding it away from yourself. It is tough to do, but sometimes releasing the built-up emotions will help us gain a better understanding of our emotions.
Not Making Past Mistakes
Being able to self reflect makes you not make the same mistake that you made before. It’s like when a toddler does something dangerous until they get hurt and starts crying. The toddler now knows not to do that dangerous thing because they got hurt. That is how you should look at things you mess up on. You eventually had to make a mistake to make sure you don’t make the same mistake in the future. That is also how I know not to run on wooden floors with fuzzy socks on. I fell right on my face and will never make that same mistake again.
A Better Perspective
Self-reflection helps gain a better perspective on a situation. It allows you to see a different point of view than before. Emotions love to blur out the true perspective of a situation that you may believe your argument is right. But when you self-reflect, you can have an open mind about situations and understand the other person’s point of view. This helps you deal with problems more effectively. Have you ever argued about something, and then you started realizing or understanding the other person’s point of view? This is because you allowed an open-mind about the argument and saw the person’s perspective without involving too many emotions.
Self-Awareness
There are so many different ways to have a healthy self-awareness, but self-reflection is one of them. Self-awareness is the ability to see yourself clearly and objectively through self-reflection. It leads to better decision-making. Having self-awareness can make you more proactive and encourage positive self-development. Not only does it help improve your life, but it also helps you mentally and emotionally be aware of situations. By self-reflecting, it gives you self-awareness to handle problems.
Thank you for reading this week’s blogs about self-reflection. Self-reflecting is very important for self-growth and improvement. We should all do it more often to gain an open-mind to even having self-awareness. If you want to see more of my content, you can follow me on Instagram. And if you have any questions you like for me to address in my life updates blogs (which I started to do now) send me an email or a DM. I love you all for the support and see you next week’s blog. 🙂
SurlyHuman 