Ahh, November. The month where we get to really look back over our year and reflect on who’ve we become and how we’d live next year differently. The time where we can start to slow down and grow from the lessons we’ve learned during the last 11 months. How do you live your life during the ending of the Fall season? Do you slow down at all or is this actually your busy season? I’d like to share with you today what mine looks like, and how slowing down and becoming more intentional with your time each day can help you to become more present in all things you do. Let’s look at the role of self reflection in personal growth.
Self Reflection and Personal Growth in 2023
I’d like to start by saying that this has by far been one of the most difficult years of my life. I’ve faced a lot of challenges both personally and professionally and together they’ve taken a large toll on my physical and mental health. (Which is what prompted me to begin creating this blog so that we could start to follow this journey together). Throughout the year I’ve managed to hold nearly 6 different jobs, while my own business went up and down like a rollercoaster because I wasn’t giving it the attention it actually needed. They say a business is like a baby, I would have to admit that I couldn’t agree more. I faced losing someone close to me, a few different health issues at only 31 years old, and multiple different battles with conversations in my family, but mostly in my own head. The whole talking myself through things was probably one of the biggest learning experiences I’ve had yet as an adult. My husband has been there every step of the way, supporting me when I needed it and pushing me when I didn’t want to keep going. I think it’s safe to say that having an accountability partner really makes a true difference, so although I recommend you work on yourself first and foremost, when you find that kind of accountability in whatever kind of relationship you desire, hold onto it. It’s gotten me a really long way this year.
How Personal Growth Can Sneak Up On You
Whether or not we like to admit it, we humans do this weird thing called obsessing over the most minute things and tasks. We tend to overthink and predetermine before we even do the actual thing we catch ourselves overthinking. Why is it that this happens to us over and over? Or maybe, it’s happening for us? I’ve started to learn a lot more over the last year or so about how having the right mindset can really project you into a totally different path. It’s taught me how becoming your “true self” can set you apart from the average joe. What is your true self? Have you found them yet? Before I started this blog, I was on a one-way path to burnout through and through. My body was sending me signals I didn’t even know existed, and my mind was throwing up all of the blinkers on the control board to try and show me it was time to shut it down. It was only then that I realized it was time to begin again, start over, and reset. Related: Looking Internally – Rediscovering Your Why & Why It’s So Important To Growth
Finding Your True Self is a Full Time Job
Anxiety is something that occurs in so many adults, and even kids, these days that it truly continues to blow my mind. It’s such a common occurance that it’s even joked about and severely misunderstood. Although during these changing times, it continues to gain more much needed light. During this past year, were you who you really wanted to be? Or were you a mere image of what others prescribed for you year after year of your youth? Have you had the chance to find yourself yet? …Have you even had the chance to try?? Attempting to find your true self is a full-time job in itself, let alone needing to find time around those moments to make time for your family, pets, day job, side hustle, housework, social gatherings, hobbies, and your physical health. And let me be the first one to tell you, ain’t nobody got time for that.
Focus on Being in the Moment
Recently I watched someone’s feelings unfold regarding a forgotten memory that to them, should have been a golden one. It was heartbreaking to watch as this person is very close to me. But at this point, I now know something that they unfortunately don’t. Through a lot of reading, self-reflection and understanding my true form, I’m beginning to learn a lot more about how others reflect their own selves. Dementia is something that runs in this persons family. So, of course this would be the first thing they had gotten worried about. It’s happening to me, they thought. And so it was.What you believe is what you become.But alas, that wasn’t the case at all. The problem (that persists with most individuals), is simply that we are not able to be fully present in our time. Time passes us by with no real acknowledgement. It goes so quickly that we don’t even understand how it really flows. We simply need to feel ourselves in the moment, each moment, relishing in each breath and each second that passes, to truly implant it in our memory bank. If we don’t, it will be lost. Related: Why I Chose Courage & It’s Endless Reservations
Your Time for Personal Growth is Now
Let’s take the month of November this year to do some real, raw reflection in who we truly are. Who have you become up until this point in your life? Did one year take precedence over another? Was there a direct point in your timeline that truly stood out to you as an individual? Each breath we take is a chance to embark on a new learning experience. It’s an opportunity to really understand how we feel within our body and soul, and how we can process the memory that is presently occurring in full, so that we don’t lose it again when we go to fetch it in the future. Allow me to take this journey with you. Let’s find our true selves and come out better for our beings during December, finishing out the year strong. Be true to yourself and be brave. This is your road to map and you only need to slow down just a little to find the path that’s been calling you all along.
