7 questions that will change your life
How else am I supposed to make improvements, if I don’t know where I’ve gone wrong in the past? Many people try to ignore past errors, but then history repeats itself, as we all know.
Here are some questions that I find useful to use for self reflection. The format that I use is that of a weekly self assessment and reflection journal. Try it yourself, ask yourself the following questions Sunday night, when your week is complete.
What will I try to improve on next week?
What was I most proud of this week?
What was my biggest accomplishment this week?
What have I done to get closer to my life goals this week?
What was hard for me this week, and why?
What was my biggest waste of time this week?
What did I do this week that made me ashamed?
By answering these questions for myself in my writing journal, or journal diary as it is sometimes called, I force myself to take a hard look at myself.
I may spend months or years treading water, not getting anywhere, if I didn’t take this time to analyze myself. For me a week is enough time to pull myself back if I’ve gotten too far offcourse. If I’ve stopped exercising for a week, I would be ashamed of myself, and my weekly review would get me to the gym first thing Monday morning.
By recording things that made me proud and that I consider my biggest accomplishments, I can emulate them in the future. The benefit for me is that these are the things that make me feel good and are likely taking me towards my life goals.
I record the activities that I’ve found to be hard during the week. Maybe it was a test, or a work out at the gym. I can then analyze where I went wrong, or right. A test being hard could mean that I wasn’t prepared enough, or it was meant to be a challenging critical thinking exam. A hard day at the gym could mean that I’ve let myself get out of shape, or I’m over working myself. I can make adjustments for the following week and plan accordingly.
What things will you discover yourself if you stare these seven hard questions dead in the eyes?
Photo: Flickr / thenext28days CC BY 2.0
