Self Reflection and Reinvention
I always felt it was important to make time for deep, meaningful, and honest self-reflection in both our personal and work lives. The kind that asks us to acknowledge things about ourselves we might rather overlook.
When something didn’t go well, it meant asking: What could we have done better? And the more personal question: What part did I play?
For me, there were plenty of things I needed to improve or do differently. Looking at them honestly wasn’t always comfortable. But if I wanted to grow, I needed to be willing to see them.
Then I needed to decide what I was going to do about what I saw.
At least once a year, I would try to identify one personal thing and one work-related thing I most wanted to get better at or do differently. Those became the things I wanted to reinvent about myself over the coming year.
I would identify specific steps and work on them, checking in with myself along the way. Was I actually doing things differently? What did I still need to work on?
That was what reinvention meant to me: choosing something I wanted to change and intentionally working toward it.
As I evolved as a leader, I shared this practice with my direct reports and asked them to do the same: reflect honestly, choose one thing they wanted to reinvent about themselves, and decide how they would work on it.
Was I always good at reinventing that thing about myself? No. But did I try? Yes.
And when I fell short, I could keep working on it. But I also think we need to give ourselves permission to say, “I’ve made progress, and this is good enough.” Honest self-reflection includes recognizing what we’re doing well and knowing when to stop asking more of ourselves. Remember, “Perfection is the enemy of greatness!”
Here are a few questions to reflect on. There is no need to share your answers. Just give yourself the time and space to genuinely look inwardly.
When you look honestly at yourself, what is one thing you would like to change?
What would doing that differently look like in your everyday life?
What are three things you will do to work toward that change?
How will you check in with yourself along the way?