Today’s Navigate the Chaos question is “How often are you engaging in self-reflection?”
The entire Navigate the Chaos question series challenges people to answer questions about themselves, how they think, act, and live.
But this journey inward makes people uncomfortable, requires intentional effort, and demands that self-reflection become a priority.
These demands, as well as others, often present far too many hurdles for someone to jump over in a given day.
To grow, however, either professionally or personally, it is paramount to ask yourself questions each day. In fact, many great thinkers embraced the idea of constantly questioning things.
The journey inward provides our life with a deep, rich, meaningful experience otherwise overlooked.
As Albert Einstein reportedly said, "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning." Of course, getting into the habit of self-reflection is easier said than done, as we often prefer to avoid asking ourselves the tough questions.
As philosopher and psychologist John Dewey explained in his 1910 book, "How We Think," reflective thinking involves overcoming our predisposition to accept things at face value and the willingness to endure mental unrest.
But enduring this discomfort is well worth the effort, as it can result in the confidence boost necessary to perform better in our work and daily lives. But this reflective thinking has a price.
Dewey observed that “While the power of thought frees us from servile subjection to instinct, appetite, and routine, it also brings with it the occasion and possibility of error and mistake. In elevating us above the brute, it opens to us the possibility of failures to which the animal, limited to instinct, cannot sink.”
How often are you engaging in self-reflection?
Are you willing to endure the mental unrest required of reflective thinking? What barriers exist that prevent you from engaging in self-reflection?