Benefits of Self Reflection

Benefits of Self Reflection

By Tiya Gorain.

Self reflection is about focusing inwards and analysing your behaviour, thoughts, emotions, desires etc. It is the key to self awareness and allows you to understand yourself better – who you are, what your values are and why you do what you do. Many ancient philosophers like Aristotle, Socrates etc spoke of the benefits of “knowing thyself”. If you ever had a strong emotional reaction to something or uttered words which you regretted later, you can see that self-reflection can help you choose more healthy responses and changing behaviours which aren’t working for you.

Here are some benefits of practising self reflection:

1. Better Decision Making

Practising self reflection helps you to build up a stronger connection with your inner self. You can hear your inner voice more clearly without the distractions of other people’s opinions. This leads to clearer thinking and hence better decision making.

2. Improving Leadership Skills

Through self reflection you can understand your own emotions better which in turn helps you better understand the emotions of your team. It will boost your emotional intelligence and aid you in learning the various strategies that can motivate yourself and your team.

3. Building Stronger Relationships

Introspection can assist you in building better relationships in both your personal and professional life. Like relationships with your family members, friends, clients, employees etc. By practising self reflection you will find it easier to connect with others on a deeper level. You will be more aware of your own needs hence better understand what the people close to you really need. Also looking back on certain situations might make you realise that this is not how you want to be treated or treat others.

4. Spotting Opportunities & Threats

Through self examination you can find out your strengths and weaknesses. Knowing your skills and strengths will help you make the most of opportunities, while knowing your weaknesses will help you navigate pitfalls. You can better understand your skill set, behaviour, belief, reactions, values, assumptions etc. to achieve a better outcome.

So make sure you keep some time aside everyday to evaluate yourself on both the macro and micro levels. On the macro level, you can think about which direction is your life going in, if you are satisfied with the trajectory of your life and if changes and adjustments are needed. At the micro level, you can think about your reactions to events, what triggers you, what motivates you etc.