Use Self-Reflection for a Successful New Year

I was all alone in the boardroom on the 26th floor.

No one else had been called to this meeting, and that was by design. I had booked the room to have a meeting with myself, an end-of-year review of my own performance. I had been looking forward to this meeting for several weeks, because it’s been such a productive last few years.

For the next two hours, I followed the simple format that I’ll share with you below. And I emerged from that meeting refreshed, energized, and excited about the coming year.

Who has time for that?

We all have too much on our leadership plates, so why take time for self-reflection?

Self-reflection is one of the most powerful and under-used tools of effective leadership. That’s because self-reflection generates greater awareness, and awareness gives us the power to choose. You cannot change what you cannot see, so genuine self-development has to start with seeing yourself more clearly.

“Awareness gives us the power to choose.”

If it’s so helpful, why do we avoid self-reflection? Two obstacles come to mind: bad habits and bad psychology. Our collective “bad habits” include our short attention spans and our unwillingness to stop “doing” long enough to think.

Our “bad psychology” is our false connection between performance and identity that leads us to avoid thinking about mistakes because we then feel bad about ourselves.

A good friend of mine in an executive leadership role often says, “Make a different mistake.” In other words, the point of self-reflection is not to beat yourself up for mistakes but to become aware of them so you can do something differently.

If you’re ready to start a new habit, try this simple, structured format built on three powerful ingredients of Energy, Clarity, and Truth.

Energy, Clarity, Truth

#1: Start with Energy

Focus and energy exist in a cyclical relationship. Focus requires energy—it takes energy to focus our thoughts and reflect. But energy also follows focus, meaning that whatever we focus on becomes more energetic.

The energy-focus cycle means that when your energy is low, you feel like you can’t focus. But when your focus is high, you feel energized and “in the zone.” If you want to succeed with self-reflection, you need to harness this cycle and make it work for you.

The most effective way I’ve found to harness the energy-focus cycle is to begin with gratitude. Specifically, I write out by hand a list of successes, achievements, and positive outcomes for the year.

To jog my memory, I go through my calendar week-by-week from January to December to recall significant events. Then I sit and reflect further to recall and write down positive things that happened in each month that may not be on the calendar. I don’t stop until I have at least one or two items for every month of the year. Then I take time to be grateful for everything on that list.

Because I lead a team, I also write down significant achievements for other members of my team and celebrate those as well. They deserve full credit for their own success, and I gain energy from remembering that we succeeded together.

By starting in gratitude, I create a context of positive energy that fuels the rest of the process and sets a tone of forward movement. Later in the process, when I think about mistakes or weaknesses, I have the energy to learn from them rather than getting bogged down.

#2: Move into Clarity

My next step is to move towards clarity—seeing myself more clearly. I begin by looking back at what my goals were earlier in the year. For this step, it really helps if you have written out your goals or have any evidence of your thinking.

In the clarity step, I look for where I wasted energy or time on the wrong things. Just because an initiative did not produce results does not mean I wasted effort, but if the pursuit itself was not aligned with my goals, then I need the clarity to see that.

As an example, last year during this step I made a list of every external meeting I had and then listed the outcomes of those meetings. I was shocked by how many of them had been “great meetings” in my mind but did not produce any business results. That clarity helped me to refocus this year on setting clear intentions for every meeting and saying “no” to meetings that are not aligned with my goals.

#3: Align with Truth

The final step of my self-reflection is to get aligned with the truth (or reality, if you prefer). Our behavior flows from our values, and our values are expressions of what we believe to be real or true. By nature, I am an optimistic person, so I have to be intentional about cultivating an awareness of reality. But even if you consider yourself a realist, there is a level of truth or reality we must all seek in order to see ourselves accurately.

For me, the process of aligning with truth includes internal and external realities. I press toward internal reality by examining myself in terms of my own strengths, weaknesses, and performance (neither too harsh nor too lenient). I press toward external reality by examining my perceptions and beliefs.

Last year, I wrote out five “Reminders I Need” and posted them on my wall. They had to do with my beliefs and actions. This year, I wrote down four truths that I find to be necessary and important to keep my perceptions of my business and myself grounded.

Try it for yourself

You may already have a nagging sense that you should stop and make time to reflect, especially here at the end of a year. If so, may I encourage you to listen to that inner voice? You can modify the process I’ve shared to fit your own needs and goals. In my own experience, I’ve found great benefit in the three-part process of seeking Energy, Clarity, and Truth.

Try it for yourself, and end (or begin) your year with real insight, and set yourself up for greater effectiveness and influence.

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