It’s mid December, and I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting lately.

Because it’s the end of the year, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the past year and look back at what you’ve accomplished, all in hopes to gain some insight and learn from what you’ve done.

I have been making the art of a reflection a new habit and finding it very valuable in my day to day life, especially where goal setting is concerned.

At least once a day, usually in the shower or on my jog or hike, I try to use the art of reflection to look at my prior day and week, to see what I’m doing right and what might need some adjusting. I do a little “check in.”

I find that reflection as a habit has been instrumental in helping me make small improvements along the way. In fact, I would say it is the reason I have made some of my biggest course corrections in life.

Reflection is the reason I changed my direction in college from Veterinary Science to English. I loved writing my whole life but never trusted in my abilities. One quarter I was feeling particularly frustrated and couldn’t figure out why. With a little reflecting, I realized I was forcing myself to become something I was not, and then surrendered to who I am, a writer.

Reflection is also the reason I left a life with a business that did not “fit” me anymore. I was able to use my writing and creative abilities to an extent, but at some point, I became frustrated about not being able to really be me. I was hiding my abilities to connect with spirits because those around me thought it was evil. With a lot of meditation work and reflection, I realized that I was hiding a gift that could help others, and just because others feared it, didn’t mean I needed to fear it too. I stepped away from my old life to embrace a new one of service and love!

Here are some ways that reflection can help you:

1. The greatest benefit to reflection is it helps you identify what may be a better direction ahead for you.  I get my best ideas for how to proceed from reflecting on things going on in my life or other’s lives. If I’ve had a success, or I’ve seen someone else achieve success, I love to share how it was achieved. Reflection has given me some of my best ideas so far!
2. Reflecting can help you steer away from mistakes. If you take time to meditate and reflect, you can see what choices you made that didn’t work out, and obviously, do less of that. And instead, do more of what is working.
3. You can help others. Sometimes we are hard on ourselves or self critical and it can be difficult to see the good along with the bad. If you take time to reflect with a friend or family member on your year, have them remind you of some of the things you accomplished. Also, you can learn so much by sharing in this way! It helps to learn not only from others mistakes but their accomplishments as well.
4. Reflection can bring you happiness. I love doing my year in review because I get to take some time to celebrate all of the little victories and things I accomplished or set out as goals. It’s important to not only celebrate the big things but the little things as well. The little steps add up to big change with time.
5. Reflection is my trick for fixing things more quickly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ll make a mistake during my banking and then try and try to fix it right then and there. I’ve learned by now to simply stop, take a breath and come back to it when I’m clear and then suddenly, the answer just jumps out at me! Reflecting can give you great perspective. I love using it to look back at how a similar past situations worked out. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and allow ourselves to get worked up about a current situation. But with a little reflection, you will remember that things came out the way they did for a reason and there was something to learn or gain from the experience.

How to use reflection in your life:

1. When you have a quiet moment, in the morning or evening, take a minute to write down about your prior day. What worked? What didn’t? This is similar to awareness training in meditation and it can help immensely!
2. Make reflection a habit for each day. Pick a time that suits you. And then just add a line or two about how things turned out.
3. I also love using the month of December to do a One Year Reflection. Simply break things down into categories, such as Family Life, Health, Fitness, Career, Home, Finances, Spirituality, etc. Then reflect on what you accomplished and what you would change. This will help you develop your goals for next year.
4. Find your best place to reflect. Some people reflect best in meditation. Some love to exercise. I personally take a jog in the morning and allow myself to reflect on my prior day. Then as I head back from my jog, I decide what major things I need to tackle in the day. For a year review, I like to make notes in a journal. Find what works for you!
5. Reflect and share! The best way to learn and grow is to share your reflections publicly. You can do this through a blog or in a conversation with a friend or family member. I can’t tell you how many times I shared something I learned through reflection and a friend has said, “That was exactly what I needed to hear right now!” I trust in the universe and know that I’m sharing what I need to share for a reason. Know that your experiences could help others!