Hey guys!
Hope you've had a really special day.
Did you know what Benjamin Franklin used to do every single day?
He used to sit down every night, and reflect on how his day went. To quote one of my all-time favourite books, The Monk who Sold His Ferrari -
"He would consider all of his actions and whether they were positive and constructive or whether they were of the negative sort, in need of repair.
By clearly knowing what he was doing wrong in his days, he could take immediate steps to improve and advance along the path of self-mastery."
That's totally him introspecting.
Da-yum.
I read this book a year ago, and I skimmed over this paragraph. So many days later, this concept has slowly re-emerged from the depths of my sub-conscious to nag at me, and I decided this morning that I would listen to the 'nagger' - i.e., every night, I would sit down and take 10 minutes to reflect on my day.
Funnily enough, the moment I made this decision in the morning, a friend of mine suggested practising 'introspection' at a youth group meeting in the afternoon. Coincidence? I think not!
Anyway, here's why this topic has slowly emerged again in my mind: in this first month of 2013, I have learnt bucketloads. I have made a crapload of mistakes - epic goof-ups to minor annoying things. But each time this has happened, after a couple of days of fretting and sulking, I've learnt something epic about myself or about Life.
Stuff I've learnt So Far:
* Not to go against my gut instinct, to make a decision that will make the people around me happy, at the expense of what I know I want to do - because in the end, the emotional torture of going against my gut is SO not worth it.
* Always go in prepared when meeting with people regarding my career or passions (a.ka. 'networking')
* Don't completely over-react and totally lose my cool when my Mum says the tiniest annoying things (still working on this one)
* Don't sleep any later than 12 am, because nothing I say makes any sense the next day.
* Never EVER skip meals. You won't like me when I'm hungry.
* Get a grip and stop committing to everything out of excitement. Calm down and think it through!
So the first month of 2013 has been eventful to say the least.
By the third week I was thinking: "I make SO many mistakes, so many epic gaffes, and I learn so much from them, that I need to write this down somewhere".
I put that off for a week as usual, and then things slowly started to fall into place.
You know how all it takes sometimes, is awareness, and that is enough to change you and your circumstances? It's like sometimes, I act like an absolute tool and I have no idea, but the moment I become aware of it, I not only gain the power to stop, I subconsciously begin the process of stopping and improving.
I started realising over the last week, that if I'm not keeping track of how I think and act every day, how will I ever improve? How will I ever become aware of the things I need to work on? How will I know where/what I need to change?
This quote has awesomely summarised this entire post into 3 sentences (approximately):
HINDSIGHT
"Without this
ability, we cannot learn from our mistakes. We cannot clean up the wreckage of
our actions. We are locked into a cycle of repeating the same thing over and
over again, expecting different results. This is commonly known as the
definition of
INSANITY."
BARBARA S. COLE, The Gifts of Sobriety
Ah-huh. Insanity sounds about right.
So I'm really excited about this addition to my daily routine guys! I feel like I can get so much value from it, which is why I'm harping on about it here.
I want to know what makes me tick, what changes my mood, what makes me act the way I act.
I want to do something like this, every night:
Introspection and Reflection is not only going to help me improve, it's really quite therapeutic to kind of just blurt your day out onto paper, learn from the mistakes, and put the whole day behind you so you can start the next one fresh, bright and wiser.
Seeing things on paper also really helps to cement an idea into my mind. I'm a very visual person, things have more impact on me if I see them or visualise them, than if I'm told something. Apparently writing things down also signals to your subconscious that you mean really do business and makes an idea 'stick'.
So here goes! Wish me luck, and as always, let me know what you think! I'm sure my 'findings' from daily introspection will make their way into a future blogpost at some point...
So,
Til' then!
Peace & Love,
A.
I used to introspect, and I found it really useful...
ReplyDeleteNo idea why I stopped.
I'm gonna try and be super-regular now, though. Every time I brush my teeth at night, that'll be my trigger to start running through the day in my head, and I'll do it straight before bed! =]
Me too!! I'll do it right before I go to bed, and I'll report on my progress the next time I am at class :) We can share findings!
DeleteA,
ReplyDeleteI spent a good one hour reading and understanding your blog and I must say, I commend on your ability to openly share these things to people because usually one would feel vulnerable as such, and that is already confidence as it is. that is something you should be proud of.
From what i notice, you seem to be drawing inspiration from external sources. What you also to do (which I think you've somewhat worked out) is introspect yourself from a third person. Look at how much you've accomplished and achieved to date. I think that in there, you already find someone who one is already great and destined for even greater things. With your accomplishments to date, I think you should be really really proud of who you are. I don't need to illustrate what you've done in life, but I think you know what you've achieved thus far.
What I think you shun yourself alot is you as an individual. I feel sometimes when you look at yourself in the mirror, you look at say 'something is missing' or you're not overly pleased with yourself for reasons unknown. and it bothers you that you don't know what those reasons are.
The thing is you shouldnt be! That's what life is all about, finding out its mysteries and be amazed and also shocked. The outcome of everything in your life, is on you. You are the author of your book, not labelled as a person who writes it. It's the status you give to yourself that allows you to be great.
You should not be fearful that you are not the best, but you should know that you are powerful beyond measure. there is so much good in you that you just don't see it at all because previously you took certain things for granted. (again drawing from your posts, not being judgemental, just deductive reasoning). That does not mean you have to be self-conscious about everything everytime, but with liberation notice certain things. For example, your behavior, your actions. What is it that you are naturally good at doing, is what the heavens have blessed you with.
I sound like i'm ranting here, but i'll end with this. come 31 december 2013, you should aim to be the best "A" that you could be. And most importantly, you have to be receptive towards change. because as you find out who you are, there will be certain circumstances that will force you out of your comfort zone but everything in life requires a give or take, you have to give something to take the things that is rightfully yours.
Good luck with your endeavours,
Regards, a well-wisher :)
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI am truly speechless! Firstly thank you for taking the time to write out such a personal and caring response. I really appreciate it. You have made me think a lot, and in many ways you are right - when I look in the mirror, I don't just see who I am at that point, I see who I want to be and how I need to get there. I feel like I am a Work In Progress. I am sometimes very hard on myself - and like you said, maybe I don't acknowledge my achievements enough, because I feel like if I do acknowledge it, it could lead to complacency and I could become lazy. I am driven every day by a mad rush to achieve achieve achieve, because I feel like life is so short and fleeting. This makes me insanely critical of myself and I revel in my achievements only very briefly, before feeling like I have not done enough. I still feel I could do so much more. But maybe I need to slow down every so often and acknowledge how far I have come.
I am so touched by your comment, and I wish I knew you who you were so I could thank you and learn more.
Regardless, you have opened my eyes to the fact that I need to take a deep breath and appreciate myself more every so often before continuing this frenetic pace. I will seek to make this a part of every day going forward. So then, I promise - come 31st Dec 2013, I will be the best Me possible!
Thank you Anon :)