One of the very first tools I have learnt in the coaching professional course is reflecting.
I wasn’t a stranger to writing to myself. Since a teenager, I noticed that writing helped me 'fixing' thoughts and ideas that were otherwise 'floating around' and ‘getting lost’ in my head. My thoughts had become more and more unmanageable, multiplying as the branches on a tree. I learned back then the power of keeping a diary and taking notes. Yes, writing helped me thinking, settling thoughts on paper and getting a clearer view of situations, problems or ideas. Well, isn’t it amazing how we can naturally develop tools to help sort their unknown issues? Writing was helping me thinking.
That worked for a while, until it became a little chaos: pieces of paper, post-it and dropped-after-few-pages diaries were left randomly around me as the trail of crumbles from Andersen’s tales.
In the coaching course I have learnt how to reflect in a structured way, adding reflections breaks to my study time. I have also learned how important reflecting is and that it is essential that I master it despite the discomfort that it can often generate.
Since the beginning of the course, I have learnt to perform reflection in four particular situations: the first is while I study or read books about coaching. The second is after a coaching session with my mentor. The third one is following a coaching session with clients. The last one are reflections prompted by a particular activity in the hub.
While preparing the portfolio of evidence, I started appreciating reflecting in general, following events in my or my family's life.
At first, the notes where more or less the recording of my impressions, feelings and thoughts, especially after noticing my mistakes. It required my conscious effort, to stop and think about my words or actions, most of the time because requested by a specific exercise or because it was required of me.
After a while, I started implementing more structure, following the models learned in the course.
By using and practising those models, I have developed a simple checklist to help me focus and concentrate during my own reflections.
So What is Self-Reflecting?
Self-Reflecting is a self-development tool used to create deeper understanding of the self, based on the analysis of thoughts or actions
Why Self-Reflecting?
Self-Reflecting is used to generate self-awareness, a flow of consciousness and to open new outcomes and possibilities in one's future.
When to Self-Reflect?
As often as possible, following events and emotions that happen in life, or making it a daily/weekly habit.
How to Self-Reflect?
Take some time and space, clear the mind, focus the attention on the event/thought/emotion. Can be done as a flow of thoughts or following an existing model or a self-tailored model. I have created my own Reflecting Checklist, an easy-to-use document, which guides me through my thinking.