Self-aware people are generally more successful than their blind-to-self counterparts. Being capable of seeing your patterns, fears, desires and anxieties makes adapting to them possible. One of the best ways to develop self-awareness is to check in with yourself from time to time. Today we are going to look at some questions you can ask yourself in order to get to a better sense of how you work. Try making a point of asking yourself these questions on a regular basis, if not nightly, at least weekly. You may be amazed at how much easier everything is with a little extra self-knowledge.
What have I learned? Another way to phrase this is “how have I grown?” What have you gotten better at today? How have your relationships with others been morphed today? Make note of something that you ran across that you think will stick with you.
What have I accomplished? This might be something big, or might be something small. Maybe you landed an interview today, or maybe you reorganized your living room. No matter what it is, making note of it at the end of the day will help you remember that you are continuing to accomplish tasks, and you can take pride in that.
What difficulties did I face? This could be something work-related, or something interpersonal, or both. Take stock of the hard parts of your day, and think about them for a moment. With a little distance and reflective thought you may find yourself coming to sudden inspiration and figuring out solutions to what seemed like insurmountable problems.
What do I wish I did differently- and how? Do you feel like you failed to rise to an occasion? That you mis-stepped in some way? If you could go back through your day, what would do differently knowing what you know now? How could you change your behavior to remedy these situations before they arise? Hindsight is of course 20/20, but see what you can learn from that clear vision to help yourself in the future.
What am I thankful for? This could be an isolated event that happened today, or something or someone in your life that you are grateful for having. Make note of the things that you are grateful for, and then take care of those things. Remember that gratitude is shown, not carried. If you are willing to take care of something, then you are truly grateful for it, if you are not willing to take care of it- you are not being grateful.
What do I want to do tomorrow? Make a short list of things that you want to accomplish tomorrow. This will make it easier to accomplish those tasks as they arise in the morning, and will give you a greater sense of accomplishment when you do them. Don’t be afraid to put modalities down as well. Tomorrow you may want to be kind to someone, or to be a good listener. Making note of how you want to appear in the world tomorrow, and then following through by appearing that way can be a tremendous help.
Having a sense of direction is key to success, both in terms of your career, but also in terms of your life. Taking a nightly look at yourself and figuring out where you were and where you want to be tomorrow will imbue you with an innate sense of direction- which will make everything in your life a little easier.