🪞 A simple model of self reflection

This point is lifted entirely from a point one of my clients made in their newsletter. Thank you, Jen. Your newsletter is an excellent read.

(Jen is a dissertation coach that specialises in PhD dissertation support for BIPOC women in the USA and UK. You can find her website here, and her excellent newsletter here).

“When we act, we accumulate experiential knowledge. However, to translate that knowledge into learning and, later, action, you need reflection. When we reflect, we filter out the useful from the incidental, the insight from the emotion, and the “sense from the nonsense” (thanks, Judy!). It is intentional.

For me, however, the problem with reflection is not that it’s difficult, but that there is a) not a lot of official recognition of it as real work, and b) way too much advice and guidance on how to do it. Even when I know that reflection would be a good idea, I don’t do it because a) I don’t know where to start, and b) feel like there are more important things for me to do than work out where to start.

This week, I stumbled across something that helps with at least part of that problem. It’s a really nice, easy-to-remember formula for reflecting. It works just as well when you are sitting on the couch at 10pm trying to work out why you got so frustrated with your kid as it does for writing up a dissertation discussion chapter.

It consists of these three simple questions:

1. What happened?

2. So what?

3. What now?

It’s a highly simplified version of Driscoll’s 7-stage model for reflective writing. If you’re into that kind of thing, go check it out. If you’re not, just know that these three questions are a great starting place for any reflection.”

Driscoll's model of reflection

💡 Quote I'm pondering

"You get the life you tolerate” - Tony Robbins

Is there something in your life that you’re unhappy with? Work is stressful, customers are difficult, life is busy? Well, what are you going to do about it?

This ties in well with another quote I like, “You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems” by James Clear.

We all get dealt different hands, and some have it harder than others. But I do believe that ultimately we have a responsibility to do what we can to improve.

People often complain about a thing, but do absolutely nothing to try and change that thing. We are all guilty of that sometimes. This quote encapsulates that - we all get the life we tolerate.

If we want something to change, then it is our responsibility to do what we can to effect change. Not everything is within our locus of control, but we can always have a degree of control over our reaction - and action - related to the change we wish to see.

Are you going to tolerate your current situation or do something about it?

I shared this in my Work Smart Wednesday newsletter. Want the full set of related insights? You can read them here: https://worksmartwednesday.substack.com/p/work-smart-wednesday-june-26-2024

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