The importance of reflection

Are you ready to move forward?

The start of a new year is often a time of reflection and this is not at all a bad thing. For many, 2019 was a crazy hectic year, and from one perspective that may be viewed as a good thing. It’s good to be busy and productive and it can be extremely rewarding. But it can also be exhausting, especially if you feel like you’ve been doing everything you can just to keep up with all the demands of life.

Reflection gives us an opportunity to examine life and gain some clarity on what’s been working, what’s been serving you well, and what hasn’t. More importantly, in recognising what isn’t healthy or productive, you can start to let go of those things, including the frustrations that go along with them. Moving forward sometimes means saying goodbye to negative habits or influences before you can start to build on a stronger foundation.

 

Why is growth important?

In today’s world it’s easy to get caught up in the sheer busyness of life, and then we wonder why we feel stresses and demotivated. Perhaps it’s because it feels like you’re on a hamster wheel, very busy being busy, but not experiencing a great deal of fulfilment. One of the ways to change that is to take time to reflect on where you are in life, what you want in life and what fills you with a sense of purpose.

Once you’ve worked to define that, you can start to map a path forward that’ll help you achieve the growth you desire. Growth is important because it helps to keep us motivated and can help reduce stress.

When you’re doing what you want to be doing and working towards your personal and professional goals it has a positive, motivating influence. Life feels more purposeful, and while it may be just as busy it’s less stressful because you know your efforts are going towards building the life and career that you want.

 

Reflect and reset

As the word reflect implies, it means taking some time out from your busy schedule to evaluate your life. Now while your first instinct may be to say: “Who has time for reflection? I’ve too much to do!” Consider this: Our bodies are designed to rest daily and we function best when we get 8 hours sleep. Our minds become more focused when we take time out from problem solving and engage in other activities like watching movie, reading a book or exercising outdoors.

Similarly, our soul needs rest. And this is where reflection plays an important role. Reflection aims to speak to our inner heart’s desires, our hopes and our dreams. Not just what we feel we should be doing, but rather what we could be doing if we let go of the expectations, perceptions and restrictions we sometimes carry around with us.

Reflection can help you to gain a better understanding of your work environment and provide context to situations you find yourself in. It can help you appreciate different perspectives and connect with work colleagues because you’ll have a better understanding of where they’re coming from. Most importantly it can help revive your passion for your work and help you to feel more fulfilled in what you do.

When we think about growth in veterinary practice it usually refers to developing clinical or management skills. How often do we tie that into fulfilling our goals for personal growth too? Reflection provides an opportunity to appreciate the journey you’ve taken to date as well as map a way forward, so that you can work with purpose and experience a greater level of fulfilment.

 

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