Introspection and Self-Awareness [What is it?]
“I have never failed! I learn from when I have failed… that is a win!!”
Self-help? In 2019 it’s a huge industry. Help to manage stress. Help to be more productive. Help to manage weight. Help to manage time. Self-help to… Not millions, but billions of dollars spent annually to get self-help advice.
I sampled 8 sites to get an idea of how some provide self-help to us buyers. They clearly don’t tell you that many of the answers to success are free. They don’t tell you to be successful you need to practice one thing, that is, to be introspective.
As a previous Canadian national team athlete, and then as a physician, both share one common theme to being successful, the practice of introspection. Introspection… what is it?
Introspection is a key ingredient in the path to becoming successful when one is challenged. Like Wayne Gretzky and Christine Sinclair, all great athletes lean on introspection on their path to success. It’s the practice of taking pause, and considering what went right, what went wrong, and what could have gone better. It’s taking that evaluation of one’s self and applying that understanding to continue to be successful, or how to modify a few things or even just visualizing ways to make yourself more successful.
Seems complicated? Not really, let me explain how to be introspective.
The key steps:
That’s how I practice introspection and self-awareness.
This warrants one comment about people beating themselves up over not accomplishing what they intended or falling off the exercise wagon temporarily.
Here you have two choices and only two choices: Choose to beat yourself up, or choose to identify what went wrong. Consider things that could have been done or actions taken to correct the unwanted result.
As a national and international athlete, I lost more tournaments than I won. Very few who have gotten to the top have won more times than they lost. We learn more from our losses than from our victories. A loss is the best result to produce change and to improve. I welcomed losing. New habits will have bumps, but these are necessary to change. It’s the choice between either loathing and remaining defeated and of “grabbing an opportunity to learn.” Being introspective means charting an even better course.
By the way, last week I only worked out one time. Yes, you could say I failed… but what I learned is that when doing night shifts in the ER, and working full out on GoGet.Fit when awake, that I need to plan to do 15 – 20 minute bouts of activity…
Well that is step 1, step 2, and step 3… now for step 4: “imagine” my success in doing it, next time when I awaken from an ER shift, instead of plopping down in a lazy chair and mindlessly watching tv for 30 minutes, I can get a workout.
I do not fail! I learn from my failures… and that is a win!!