As we come to the end of another year, there’s no better time than to pause for reflection and regular readers of my blogs will know that I define Resilience as “Springing Forward with Learning”. Therefore, it is vital that your approach to reflection allows learning to happen and doesn’t become a spiral into negativity!

Take some time out to consider the year as a whole – what’s worked well, what hasn’t worked so well, have you achieved your targets, what’s your current emotional state, do you feel resilient and prepared to face the challenges of the months ahead?

All these points are essential if you’re going to be successful not only in your business life, but in your personal life as well.

Famed 19th century novelist and social critic Charles Dickens once said: “reflect upon your present blessings – of which every man has many – not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”

But to maximise the impact of this reflective time, you need to answer four key questions:

·       What is reflection?

·       How can you reflect?

·       Why is reflection important?

·       What are the benefits of reflection?

When applied to the thought process, the Oxford English Dictionary quite simply defines reflection as: “serious thought or consideration.”

In its Reflective Practice Guidance, the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) expands this slightly stating: “reflection is a process which helps you gain insight into your professional practise by thinking analytically about any aspect of it.”

The insights developed and lessons learned can help you develop and improve in both your professional and personal life.

Different people learn in different ways, and whilst you might find it useful to reflect on a positive outcome, someone else may find it useful to focus on a situation they found challenging. There’s no right or wrong approach – it’s just important that you reflect in the way that best suits you and achieves the best outcome for you.

Whilst we’ve just considered what reflection is, it’s equally important to consider what it isn’t.

Reflection can take many forms, but you must understand that several activities closely linked to reflection aren’t actually themselves reflective.

For example, reflection isn’t simply the act of talking, meeting with your team, meeting with a supervisor, or writing about your day. But these activities do become reflective if you use them to analytically assess your practice and develop insights.

In the same way, supervision is an important part of meeting your standards and of continual professional development (CPD) and can play an active role in your reflections. However, supervision isn’t simply a substitute for reflection and the same can be said for other processes such as coaching.

Look out for further blogs in this series – “How Can You Reflect?” “Why Is Reflection Important?” and “What Are The Benefits Of Reflection?”

If you need further information about this approach, or any other resilience topic, please contact russell@theresiliencecoach.co.uk.