The practice of looking within in order to get rid of all that is bothering us and know ourselves better is called self-introspection. It’s wise to do this activity every once in a while to keep a track of your emotional well-being and navigate it in a simpler way.
For the times your mind is so clogged with unaddressed issues, self-introspection can help in taking up an informed decision.
Why is introspection important for growth?
- Breaking out of patterns- When you observe carefully, you find a pattern in your behavior, and breaking out of negative patterns brings an added definition to your character. You now know how you react in the first place and take steps to rectify the same. Not repeating the same mistakes and learning from them is the reason self-introspection is so important.
- Every time you keep a check on yourself it tells you something new about yourself- Getting to know yourself better is a form of self-awareness and constantly analysing yourself can lead to greater awareness.
- Knowing where you stand- All of us make promises to ourselves and want something out of our lives. The best way to know how far you’ve come and which area needs more attention is self-introspection.
- A great form of journaling- Looking at how far you’ve come and making changes as time passes brings you perspective. It shows what you gained by reflecting on each.
Prerequisites of self-introspection
Authenticity– You can only reap the benefits of this exercise if you are authentic. The whole point is to get to know yourself better and not hide behind your mistakes.
Hunger to Grow– When you have the undying need to tap into your full potential, you will gain its long-term benefits.
Comfortable With Changes– a lot of times self-introspection forces you to develop new methods to look at life and to get better, you need to get comfortable with making regular changes.
Harnessing Relationships– Until you take the step to bring considerable changes within yourself, nothing around you will change.
Realisation– It all boils down to knowing there’s a problem that needs attention or else you would never know what needs to be changed in your life.
Intrinsic Motivation– Having the will to break your habits is the only way to make this exercise useful.
What not to do as a part of self-introspection?
Getting too involved in your thoughts can have the opposite effect on this technique. You don’t need to question every second of your life and reason out parts that have little to no significance.
Trying to do that will only bring in more problems that never existed in the first place. You need to spot the difference between the right & the wrong questions before you dive into the process of knowing yourself better.
Any sort of question that makes you feel less about yourself and moves in a negative direction should be avoided. Blaming yourself for a particular situation without looking at ways to overcome will not bring you out of that chaos.
When something good happens, try to amplify the same by sticking to what made you feel that way.
When something bad happens, acknowledge what went wrong and could be avoided in the future.
In both ways, you will learn something that you previously did not and work in a way that can lead to more happiness and growth.
Closing Thoughts
As we take up new challenges, it becomes inevitable to observe what changes they bring within us. Not being afraid and consciously trying to look for lessons in everyday life will teach you to go about life’s numerous ups and downs.
It depends on how desperate you are to observe your mistakes and bring about a positive change. Once you take care of that area, life will take care of itself.
