Reflecting on Life

By Jeff Klein

“How’s it going?”

“What is working well and what are the opportunities for improvement?”

“What have I learned from this passage?”

“What new approaches might we explore?”

“What skills or capacities can we develop to be better prepared for similar circumstances?”

“How do I feel about this process? What might those feelings indicate?”

These are a few of countless questions we can ask ourselves as we hold up figurative mirrors for ourselves and each other to reflect on the process, status and outcomes of our endeavors.

Reflecting is a uniquely human attribute and an integral element in our ongoing learning, growth and development.

Much as a dancer uses a mirror to reflect the precision of her movement and to facilitate refinement, we can use the reflective capacity of our minds and feedback from others to facilitate our assessment and refinement of our orientation and approach to people, processes and challenges.

I consider reflecting to be both a natural human attribute and process and a practice that can be cultivated. I recognize the former at play throughout my days, and I purposefully practice reflecting somewhat systematically. Practicing conscious awareness is a process of reflecting. Writing in a journal or taking notes during or after a conversation can be reflecting. Debriefing with someone else on a conversation or experience is reflecting.

At the end of every day I reflect on the events of the day, and on their implications for tomorrow and beyond. I track the progress of my various projects (including personal development, physical fitness, etc.) and the experiences and issues in my core relationships.

Every week I write (at least one) blog post, which is always in part a reflection on an issue or topic that I care about and find relevant to my work and life.

Every month I write a newsletter entitled Reflections, which provides a monthly pause to look back and ahead, and to sense how it all comes together for me right now.

And then there is perhaps a deeper aspect of reflecting, from Socrates. “The unreflected life is not worth living. All of us need to draw away from our busy lives from time to time. We seek a space where we can think about the meaning of life and what really matters to us.”

In my next post under the banner of It’s Just Good Business, I will reflect on appreciation.

Please join me for It’s Just Good Business at the en*theos Academy and join us for conversation on our Facebook page.

Jeff Klein is CEO of Working for Good, a company that activates, produces and facilitates mission-based, Stakeholder Engagement Marketing™ campaigns and Conscious Culture development programs.

Jeff is a founding trustee of Conscious Capitalism, Inc. and authored the award-winning book, Working for Good: Making a Difference While Making a Living, to support conscious entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, leaders and change agents at work.

 image: Davide Cassanello via Flickr creative commons license