Self Reflection: Achievements, Opportunities, Challenges & Letting Go of it all!
Growth and transformation can take many forms and at many junctures in time. Taking the time to self reflect will help you uncover, remember, grow and evolve and not stay standing in one spot.
Perhaps this is the trickiest part of self reflection - the recognition that you need to stand still and look back in order to move forward. Don’t worry - I have you covered. Read on to begin your own self-reflective practice today.
Start with Moments of Success, Personal Growth, and Achievements
Here are some ideas to consider :
Your professional accomplishments,
All your personal milestones,
Any positive experiences that stand out for you
When you reflect on these moments you are setting the stage for acknowledging your strengths and celebrating your kick ass journey! Now that sounds like something super positive and something to get behind! Right?
Here are some ideas & journal prompts to get you started:
Grab your journal & something to drink, find a quiet space and write about your personal moments of growth from the past few months or year. Write about what you are most proud of as well as which accomplishments brought you joy and fulfilment
Grab a friend or colleague and share wins together - this supportive space is a great playground for mutual celebration
Here are some questions to get your juices flowing baby:
Which accomplishments are you particularly proud of and what makes them significant?
How did you feel when you first learned about the success? Can you identify any patterns in your emotions?
What parts of your life do you do really really well and what things do you do that help maintain this success?
Outline which skills or strengths you used to your advantage to make this a successful experience?
Did you create any goals before hand and if so HOW did you establish and work towards these goals that resulted in your fabulous accomplishments?
Finally - did you brainstorm with others to reach your goals - if yes how did the collaboration contribute to your success?
Challenges, Challenges, Challenges
Learning from your challenges is a gift - so lean in to reviewing all the challenges you have encountered these past few months or year because all journeys have challenges - that is part of the ride love!
Your obstacles, setbacks and difficulties are your opportunity for growth. Yes they are! By allowing yourself to acknowledge and learn from your challenges, you build your resilience and keep enhancing your personal development!
Here are some ideas & journal prompts to get you started:
Grab that drink and your lovely journal and start writing about the challenges you faced and the lessons you learned. How do you think these experiences contributed to your growth? Can you see the growth?
With your friend or colleague sit down and talk about how these challenges shaped you and what insights you gained from overcoming them.
Can you think of any strategies for turning your setbacks into opportunities for growth and learning? Jot down some ideas on how to overcome your challenges, hindrances, or limiting beliefs.
Here are some questions to get your juices flowing around your challenges baby:
Write down what the main challenges or obstacles that you encountered were.
What were your feelings like - how did you react - what was the action or inaction you took?
Did you go this alone or did you reach out to others for help? If you did, write about who this was and how did their support make a difference to you? You are very lucky if you did reach out - this in itself is growth.
Did you have any strategies or problem-solving methods to overcome the obstacles you faced?' What were they?
When you reflect back, can you remember any signals or signs hinting that you may come across a challenge? Could you have noticed them at the time and could you have done anytihng about them?
All of the above offer delicious and juicy insights into how you problem solve and your resilience meter. Can you see how you can use the insights gained from overcoming these difficulties to better navigate challenges in your future?
And here is a tricky final reflection for you - what did you discover about your own ways of coping and your ability to bounce back when things got rough? Ouch - this is a good one so spend some time here.
Growth & Your Wild life of Opportunity
You are finally at the place where you can start to focus on the positive opportunities for growth over the next months and year. So awesome - let’s go! Asking yourself fab questions like what are my potentials and what opportunities for growth do I have in the upcoming year are pretty amazing. Start thinking about where you want to develop new skills, foster new relationships, or create exciting ventures for yourself.
Your life has the potential for wild opportunity - grab it!
Here are some ideas & journal prompts to get you started:
In your journal, list the areas of your life where you see potential for wild growth. What opportunities excite you? What new experiences do you want to cultivate?
With your friend or colleague - discuss and exchange aspirations - share your goals with each other and offer support and encouragement to explore all the new possibilities!
Jot down your actionable steps to ignite these potentials and bring them to life
Here are some questions to get your juices flowing around your opportunities baby:
What qualities do you appreciate in your down to earth & meaningful relationships - these can be both personal or professional?
Make a list of all the people in your life that makes a positive contribution to your well-being and growth.
Are there any actions you can take to strengthen your existing relationships, making them deeper and more meaningful?
Can you make any new connections to build your circle both personal and professional and can you list what shared interests and values you would like to have with these potential new people?
Do you have any mentors you can turn to for learning and guidance?
Make a list of specific goals to keep you on track - follow up on how you are progressing in acquiring the new skills?
Can you break down the process of learning and goal setting into smaller steps so that you can make progress more easy on yourself?
Accountability is the secret sauce to your success so list who can be a reliable accountability partner as you work towards your goals?
Create a plan on how you can maintain motivation and accountability as you go through the journey of pursuing your new aspirations?
Letting go of what is Preventing you from Growing
You may have gained some insight as you worked through the above and you may have already identified area’s in your life both personal and professional that is preventing you from growing. It can be both interesting and challenging to truly dig in and see what area’s of your life are holding you back and why. Why are these area’s hindering your amazing potential for growth?
This next session can sometimes feel pretty heavy - so if you can work with someone you trust or a coach that may give you the space and support you may need to truly uncover some of your deeper mindset and limiting beliefs you may not even know you have that would be a good support for you.
Here are some ideas & journal prompts to get you started:
Grab your journal and make 3 columns - mark the columns: 1. Habits 2. Beliefs 3. Behaviours
Under each column write down the things that may be holding you back - what bad habits do you have that you have not examined, what mindset or beliefs do you have or behaviours that are stagnating you - write them all down - the good the bad and the icky - don’t worry no one is looking!
With your friend or colleague explore how you can support each other in cultivating new area’s of growth while letting go of the things that are holding you back - hindrances. Try and set up regular check-ins to discuss your progress once you have identified the area’s and set new actionable goals - give each other some kick ass mutual support. Be collaborative and support each other in the process of letting go and growing. Wow!
Here are some questions to get your juices flowing around letting go & growing:
Have a think on what parts of your life make you feel stressed or anxious?
What are your energy vampires - the things or people that is zapping your precious energy?
Do you have habits that might be slowing you down?
Can you pinpoint areas in your life where you feel less sure of yourself or skills?
Shine a light on what fears or beliefs you have about yourself and your abilities that might be holding you back?
Can you identify places or situations that consistently make you feel uneasy or dissatisfied?
Ask yourself - do I set limits or expect too much from myself? Could this be getting in the way of my progress?
Congratulations on working through this list or even just reading though it all and considering doing the work! It is a big step and there is allot to take in here.
You can start slowly and just do each section over a period of a week or so and progress as you feel comfortable. Having a trusted partner to work with will help you stay on course.
So as you work through the reflective exercises above, celebrate and recognize that your months or previous year contains a wealth of pretty awesome and diverse experiences! Look to the future and your today as a brilliant canvas of possibilities for your growth and transformation.
So take a big breath and a moment to acknowledge your achievements, your opportunities, your challenges and your mindset - they all hold invaluable lessons for you and are the key to you moving forward and living a life in technicolour!
If you want to run this by me I would love to talk to you! DM me and we can set up a free session to chat - I would love to help your through this!
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