Reflection is not only important to us, but it is also essential at every step of the way. As previously stated, we live in a society where we can be easily distracted. So taking the time to centre and point ourselves in the correct direction is one of the most effective methods to make the most of our time and ensure that we are on the right path to success.

We discussed self-reflection in a recent piece, but with the year drawing to a close and many of us already planning our goals for the following year, we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to take a look back. As a result, we’ll have a better idea of what we need to do moving forward.

15 questions to review and reflect

We’ve put together a list of questions to help you on your journey of self-reflection, but all of them can be used not only by yourself but also with members of your team, friends, family or community.

Answering these questions will not only help you better understand yourself, but it will also help you better understand others, and the better we understand others, the easier it will be to do the right thing for them.

In addition, with many of us working remotely and considering how quickly things are changing in the workplace, spending time to reflect with your team may be an excellent opportunity to bring the team closer together and provide clarity on people’s needs for the coming year.

Let’s start our journey of self-reflection with some questions about the past:

1. What did go well in the past year?
2. What’s your more significant achievement this year? What are you most proud of?
3. How did you grow in the past year?
4. What could have gone better? What would you do differently or don’t do at all?
5. What are you holding on to that is not serving you anymore?
6. What was the most challenging part of this year for you? Why?
7. What have you overcome this year?
8. What challenges do you still need to conquer?
9. How did you take care of yourself this year?
10. Emotionally, mentally, physically?
11. What character trait did you develop most over the past year?
12. What character traits do you need to develop further?
13. What excited you this past year?
14. What disappointed you this past year?
15. What have you not done this year that you wish you had?

Plus 5 more to help you prepare for goal setting

Once we have reflected on the past and are clear about what went well and what we need to improve, we can start reflecting on the future. Here are some questions to help you:

1. Are your goals still valid?
2. Are you closer to achieving your goals? If not, why? What would you need in order to achieve them?
3. What would you like to change in the new year?
4. What would you like to keep moving forward? What would you like to drop? (This can be a habit, behaviour, or anything else)
5. How would you like to better yourself next year? Which areas of development would you like to focus on next year?

The Optimist view…

Taking time to reflect on the past can seem a bit like dwelling, but in fact, it’s the opposite of it. Reflection is a tool to achieve our goals. Reflect is not about punishing ourselves or others for what went wrong, but rather about learning from our mistakes or shortcomings to ensure we do better in the future. 

At Optimist Performance, we make reflections part of our everyday processes. We, like everyone else, sometimes get sidetracked, which is why taking a minute to reflect is so important for us.

Reflections are also part of all our programmes; we cannot change if we don’t know what we need to change. Learn more about our leadership programmes and executive coaching, or get in touch with us today and find out how we can help you and your team. 

The post Review and reflect to set you up for success – By Optimist Performance appeared first on Optimist Performance.