I participated in a conference last week where attendees were given time after each session to reflect on what they had learned.\u00a0 This short exercise was one of the elements that participants enjoyed the most from the event.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 I suspect it\u2019s because we rarely take the time to pause, think, reflect and evaluate what we have learned.\u00a0 In our fast-paced careers and lives we jump from one activity to another and plough through one change after another, without doing an analysis of what each experience provided us.<\/p>\n
Self reflection is defined as:\u00a0 careful thought about your own behaviour and beliefs<\/em><\/p>\n We can also give careful thought to an experience, a change we have undergone or a learning event.<\/p>\n As we come to the end of another year, we often spend time reviewing what we accomplished, what changed, what worked well and what didn\u2019t. We ask ourselves a number of questions, which may include:<\/p>\n These are all self-reflective questions and they help us reframe the experiences we experienced over the last 12 months.\u00a0 They often help guide us to new year resolutions about how we want to improve our lives.<\/p>\n A more in-depth self-reflective practice can happen if you commit to following these 7 steps:<\/p>\n There are 3 main benefits of self-reflection:<\/p>\n 1. Strengthening Emotional Intelligence<\/strong><\/p>\n When taking time to self-reflect you are looking inwards. This helps to build two components to emotional intelligence: self-awareness and self-regulation. Self awareness gives you the ability to understand your emotions, strengths, weaknesses, drives, values and goals, and recognize their impact on others. Self-regulation involves the ability to control or redirect your disruptive emotions and impulses and adapt to changing circumstances. Building these skills will improve both your personal life and professional role as a leader.<\/p>\n 2. Acting With Integrity<\/strong><\/p>\n Becoming clear on your core values will help to strengthen your integrity and lead you to better decisions. Our integrity is often put to the test during stressful times. Taking time to review your key decisions and actions in the recent past and evaluating them against your core values is critical to acting with integrity. Doing this consistently can solidify your values and make the decision making process easier in the future.<\/p>\n 3. \u00a0Being More Confident<\/strong><\/p>\n Confidence is crucial for managing a busy, complex life that includes meeting career, family, community and self needs. It helps in effective communications, decision-making, and influence building. The more your reflect on your strengths and how you can build upon them the more confident you will be in the future. \u00a0We become more confident in where our strengths lie and how to close the gaps in our areas of weakness.<\/p>\n As I take stock of 2015, I realize how much change I have undergone and how n-gen has evolved in 12 short months. We have a lot to be proud of and many things to look forward to. Change has been the key word this year for me as I have had an epic year of \u2018firsts\u2019; as I got married, became a step mom to 3 kids and became the sole owner and President of n-gen.\u00a0 Whew, what a ride! This year I have learned a lot and my key learnings are:<\/p>\n I would like to thank everyone who made 2015 a great year\u00a0 – the n-gen team, our clients, our fabulous partners, my family and friends and my expanding network of new connections.<\/p>\n Wishing everyone a very happy holiday season and a wonderful 2016!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I participated in a conference last week where attendees were given time after each session to reflect on what they had learned.\u00a0 This short exercise was one of the elements that participants enjoyed the most from the event.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 I … Continue reading \n
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Benefits of Self Reflection<\/h3>\n
My Year In Review<\/h3>\n
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