Why reflection is needed and how to reflect correctly

What is reflection

This is thinking about your feelings, analyzing your own actions and their reasons through a conversation with yourself. You can evaluate both the past and the present. For the first time, ancient philosophers started talking about reflection and its importance. Today the term is used in psychology and pedagogy.

Chinese lady of the court for contemplation and reflection (reflection). The authorship is attributed to the artist Gu Kaizhi

The ability to reflect is manifested in early school age, and in adolescents, self-analysis is central to the choice of behavior and self-development. But adults do not always find time for such reflections.

Why Reflection Is Good

Because in this way you can realize your past mistakes and no longer make them in the future. Reflection also gives a chance to deal with real feelings and desires. By reflecting on the past, we are able to understand the unconscious motives of our behavior and correct them. For example, to find a business that you really like, instead of an occupation imposed by someone.

Correcting mistakes helps to become more efficient. A Harvard Business School study found that reflective call center employees perform 23% better than those who don't think about themselves. The first ones quickly understood what was required of them, and made decisions more confidently.

Finally, by listening to ourselves, we learn to listen to others, which helps to better understand the interlocutors and define their feelings.

When reflection gets overwhelmed

Sometimes reflection can take up too much space in life and turn into self-delusion. In this case, a person devotes all the time to thinking about himself, his past, present situation and future. For example, he constantly replays situations from two years ago in his head, coming up with an ideal order of actions.

Such reflection leads 1.

2. to the deterioration of the mental state. A possible cause is the wrong approach to introspection. For example, if a person constantly asks the question “why?”, Then, most likely, he will concentrate on all the problems at once. Such reflection is unlikely to get better.

Cyclical negative thoughts can be the result of prolonged self-examination. They over and over again make a person experience pain, fear, despair and other unpleasant emotions. This condition can lead to long-term and severe depression.

How to learn to reflect

So that reflection does not turn into self-examination, you need to think about yourself correctly. Here's what you can do:

Start small: you don't have to spend hours introspection. Try starting with 10-15 minutes. In general, this is already quite enough to feel the positive effects of reflection. You can gradually increase the time, the main thing is not to get too carried away.
Think of something useful or good. For example, plan tomorrow or think back to today's successes. If you are faced with a failure, reflect on what the situation taught you.
Determine how you are more comfortable reflecting. For example, you are best at thinking when you are walking in a park or lying with your eyes closed in silence. Or maybe it's easier for you to keep a diary or communicate with a psychologist. In fact, it doesn't matter where you meditate. Reflection in a subway car on the way to work is no worse than introspection in a calm atmosphere.
Do not be discouraged and do not rush to give up everything if you cannot sit still or figure out what is happening. It's okay when you don't know or understand something. The main thing is not to dwell on whether you are reflecting correctly.
Remember that your perception cannot be completely objective. People tend to see themselves as better than they really are. Consider this when you think about your actions, and try to be honest with yourself. Only then will reflection be beneficial.
Ask yourself the right questions. Instead of "why?" and "who is to blame?" better ask "what's going on?" and "what options do I have?" This will help you really understand the problem and draw conclusions, and not endlessly digest the consequences.
Try to think about yourself from the outside, as if you are thinking about another person. Going beyond your “I” (mentally, without any mysticism) can help you better understand yourself. For example, it will allow you to be less emotional about both your positive and negative qualities.