self reflection assignment sample

30 Self-Reflection Examples

Self-reflection is the internal process of analyzing oneself with the intent of making more informed decisions, improving oneself, and setting realistic goals.

Christian (2020) defines it as below:

“Self-reflection is when you seriously take time to think about your character and behavior, analyzing where it comes from, what it means to you, is ‘working’ for you, and what you can do about it.”

Self-reflection can help us to increase our awareness of weaknesses and strengths, clarify our values and priorities (Lim et al., 2019), and improve cognitive function (Goupil & Kouider, 2019; Lyons & Zelazo, 2011).

It offers us the opportunity to pause, consider, and critically examine our thoughts, emotions, and motivations.

The key components of self-reflection are introspection, analysis, and willingness to accept self-criticism – aspects that contribute significantly to personal growth (Travers, Morisano & Locke, 2015). Prolonged practice of self-reflection can, therefore, enhance personal development and improve overall quality of life (Ardelt & Grunwald, 2018).

Self-Reflection Examples

Method 1: Journaling Journaling is a method of self-reflection that involves writing down thoughts, feelings, and experiences consistently. It serves as a personal space for you to express emotions and ideas, providing you with a record to reference and evaluate later on (Christian, 2020; Giguere, 2012). Over time, this reflection can highlight patterns, progress, and areas for development.

Method 2: Meditation Meditation is a practice that involves spending a period of time focusing your mind. Two main approaches involve completely emptying your mind (Ardelt & Grunwald, 2018). When thoughts enter the mind, the practitioner notices it then stops the thought, returning to a state of thoughtlessness. Over time, this approach leads to enhanced calmness. Another approach is to focus on one thing that you’re concerned about, focusing on it and reflecting on it for a sustained period of time.

Method 3: Mindfulness Mindfulness is similar to meditation but practiced throughout the day. The idea is to focus on your own body and mind throughout the day, being aware of how your thoughts are driving your behaviors and how your body is reacting to things like tiredness or strain (Ardelt & Grunwald, 2018). This method helps you remain present in the moment and develop deeper understanding of how you’re feeling at all times. By doing this regularly, you may become more aware of your mental and emotional states, and better equipped to understand and control them.

Method 4: Professional Therapy Engaging with a trained professional provides a safe space to navigate personal issues. Therapists can offer constructive tools and techniques to encourage productive self-reflection (Prasco et al., 2012). By bringing into the open internal dialogues that you may struggle to interpret alone, therapy can enhance your capacity to understand and address personal challenges.

Method 5: Artistic Expression Creating art can be therapeutic and reflective. It’s a non-structured process that helps to explore suppressed emotions, issues, and experiences (Christian, 2020; Diamond, 2023). Whether it’s painting, writing poetry, or playing a musical instrument, the act of creating can help you express different emotions, leading to insights into your own motivations and feelings.Benefits of Self-Reflection

Method 6: Goal Setting and Reflection Goal-setting involves putting in place intentional goals or milestones that you need to meet. This helps you to be more self-reflective because you’re able to reflect on your progress toward an objective goal and think about whether you’re on track. If you’re not on track, you can pivot and adjust to get back on the path to success. I recommend the SMART Goals Method for setting both short-term goals and long-term goals .

Method 7: Feedback Analysis Feedback analysis involves contemplating the feedback received from others. I find that, too often, students get feedback from me (and other teachers) and they don’t even read it. They just care about the top-line grade! This is not self-reflection. Self-reflection would involve actually looking at the feedback and thinking about how to take it on board in order to improve your work next time.

Method 8: Self-Assessment Quizzes Taking self-assessment quizzes can be another useful self-reflection method. These quizzes can shed light on strengths, weaknesses, preferences, and behavioral tendencies. These often depend upon the tasks, but one good method is to lay out a set of desired outcomes before doing a task, then self-assessing once the task has completed, giving yourself a grade for each outcome. Once this is done, you can think about how to improve on each aspect.

Method 9: Solitude and Silence Embracing solitude and silence is another powerful tool for self-reflection. It allows for introspection without the distraction of external noise or influences. For example, you could take yourself for a walk each afternoon to clear your head and think about the day. Other people prefer to go fishing, or even pair this up with journalling, by taking your journal out to the forest to write and think.

Method 10: Coaching or Counselling Engaging in professional coaching or counseling can facilitate self-reflection. Trained professionals can ask probing questions and provide non-biased insights that initiate deeper self-reflection. For example, many CEOs and high-performing athletes have mentors and coaches who help them think through their bottlenecks and difficulties, which can help them to squeeze out those extra few percent of higher performance each week.

Method 11: Reflective Conversations Reflective conversations involve discussing personal experiences and thoughts with trusted friends, peers, family, and mentors. These conversations foster deeper self-understanding and provide opportunities to view issues from different perspectives. Some of my best lightbulb moments of self-reflection have come through conversations with my very insightful sister, who is really good at asking the right probing questions and summarizing my muddled thoughts!

Method 12: Philosophical Inquiry Philosophical inquiry involves in-depth questioning about the nature of human existence and purpose. Through exploratory questions and discussions of philosophical tenets, deeper self-reflection is induced. This process assists in shaping your core beliefs and core values . Some people might do this by reflecting on secular philosophy, while others might turn to the philosophical and spiritual writings of their religious traditions.

Method 13: Role-Play Scenarios Role-play scenarios can allow you to experiment with different perspectives or behaviors in a controlled setting. This can enable a greater understanding of your own reactions and actions within different contexts. This serves to highlight patterns of behavior and areas of growth or change. We do this often in education, but therapists and counsellors also do it, which allows the student or patient to think about things from other people’s perspectives, displacing their own ego momentarily to achieve breakthroughs.

Method 14: Mind Mapping Mind mapping is a graphical technique for visualizing connections between various ideas and concepts. By creating a mind map about a topic related to yourself and your struggles, you can gain valuable insights into how you perceive different aspects of your life and how each of those aspects interconnect. This is a beneficial tool to visually organize and structure thoughts, allowing for deeper self-reflection.

Method 15: Visualization Techniques Visualization techniques allow you to create a mental image or scenario to explore thoughts, feelings, and desires. Through this, you can envision your future goals or replay past experiences to gain a different perspective. This method is often used with children, whose visualizations (often in the form of drawings) can display what the child is thinking and feeling about a topic.

Method 16: Personal SWOT Analysis A personal SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities Threats) analysis encourages you to look deeply at personal characteristics and environments. It allows an assessment of personal attributes and the external factors that can influence them. This type of analysis helps you to strategically plan for personal and professional development, and is a good starting tool for goal-setting and planning, so you can both avoid threats on the horizon and position yourself best to embrace any upcoming opportunities.

Method 17: Daily Milestones Documenting and assessing your daily achievements and steps toward your milestones – no matter how small – can help to promote personal self-reflection and self-growth. This guides you in celebrating successes every single day, while also acknowledging failures and thinking about how you could use new strategies to reach your milestones. This daily habit can instill a sense that you are, in fact, making progress every day.

Method 18: Guided Reflective Activities Guided reflection exercises, such as prompted journaling or organized workshops, can facilitate in-depth insights. Often, these activities encourage participants to confront difficult thoughts and experiences. Through these guided activities, you can explore your struggles and challenges in more structured ways.

Method 19: Digital Detox Digital detox involves refraining from using digital devices for a sustained period of time. While this isn’t an overt form of reflection, you may find that by no longer having your phone as a distraction, you can then open up space and time to think more deeply. By reducing reliance on digital technology, an individual can refocus their attention back on their thoughts and experiences in real-life contexts. Digital detox periods are often cited for allowing the space for much-needed introspection and self-reflection.

Method 20: Being Among Nature Becoming an observer of nature and embracing the natural environment can support self-reflection. Nature inherently promotes calm and mindfulness, which can provide an ideal setting for introspective thoughts. Observing the rhythm and patterns in nature can, in many cases, be reflective of one’s life patterns, stimulating profound self-reflection.

Did you Know? British Columbia, a province in Canada, allows doctors to prescribe national parks passes to people with depression. This is in recognition of the restorative power of nature.

Method 21: TED Talks and Podcasts Delving into thought-provoking TED Talks or podcasts can stimulate self-reflection. They often provide unique perspectives and compelling stories which can challenge our existing beliefs. By reflecting on these insights, individuals can foster a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.

Method 22: Mantras and Affirmations Creating personalized mantras or affirmations serves as a tool for self-reflection. These mantras or affirmations, when repeated regularly, aid in challenging and reshaping assumptions about oneself. They can help in cultivating positive beliefs and focusing on personal growth objectives.

Method 2 3: Dream Analysis Analyzing dreams and their symbolism can induce a form of self-reflection. Interpreting the situations, characters, and emotions presented in dreams can reveal subconscious thoughts and feelings. Here, dream analysis can form an important part of an introspective journey. But beware – dream analysis enters into the realm of pseudoscience .

Method 2 4: Narrative Therapy Using narrative therapy techniques fosters self-reflection by encouraging you to tell your life story. It provides an opportunity to review your life from a different perspective, recognizing dominant narratives and addressing inherent bias. It enables us to rewrite our narrative, shaping a more constructive view of ourselves and our life.

Method 2 5: Practice of Empathy Active empathy towards others promotes self-reflection, as it requires understanding the thoughts, emotions, and experiences of others. By stepping into someone else’s shoes, we can gain insights into our own biases and feelings. Thus, empathy can act as a mirror that reflects our values and beliefs.

Method 2 6: Retreats and Workshops Participating in personal growth retreats and workshops offer an immersive experience that often prompts introspection. These platforms facilitate structured exercises, group discussions, and introspective practices that enable individuals to understand themselves deeply. Retreats create a supportive environment conducive to intensive self-reflection and personal insight.

Method 2 7: Personality Tests Taking personality tests such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) contributes to self-reflection by breaking down individual characteristics. These tests assess a range of personality aspects, providing a comprehensive insight into oneself. Based on this, individuals can recognize their inherent traits and consider ways to leverage or improve them.

Method 2 8: Exploring Cultural Differences Exploring cultural diversity or visiting new places can trigger self-reflection. It facilitates understanding different worldviews, which in turn, encourages introspection about one’s cultural lens and biases . Interacting with various cultures can highlight where our attitudes and behaviors come from, prompting self-reflection.

Method 2 9: Gratitude Practice Keeping a gratitude journal, or simply pondering what you’re grateful for, incites self-reflection. By focusing on the positive aspects of life, gratitude practices foster an understanding of what truly matters to us. Gratitude helps refocus our thoughts and feelings, promoting a deeper sense of self-awareness .

Method 30: Life Milestone Review Reviewing life milestones can provoke powerful self-reflection. By examining major life events, individuals can evaluate personal growth, changes in values, and turning points. This method provides an opportunity for individuals to appreciate their journeys, achievements, and learn from past experience.

Ardelt, M., & Grunwald, S. (2018). The importance of self-reflection and awareness for human development in hard times.  Research in Human Development ,  15 (3-4), 187-199. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2018.1489098

Christian, S. (2020). Self-Reflection: The Key to an Amazing Life . Independent.

Diamond, L. K. (2023). Art as Self-reflection in Nurse Practitioner Role Transition .  Nurse Educator , 10-1097.

Giguere, M. (2012). Self-reflective journaling: A tool for assessment.  Journal of Dance Education ,  12 (3), 99-103. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/15290824.2012.701168

Goupil, L., & Kouider, S. (2019). Developing a reflective mind: From core metacognition to explicit self-reflection .  Current Directions in Psychological Science ,  28 (4), 403-408.

Lim, C. Y., Berry, A. B., Hartzler, A. L., Hirsch, T., Carrell, D. S., Bermet, Z. A., & Ralston, J. D. (2019, May). Facilitating self-reflection about values and self-care among individuals with chronic conditions. In  Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems  (pp. 1-12).

Lyons, K. E., & Zelazo, P. D. (2011). Monitoring, metacognition, and executive function : Elucidating the role of self-reflection in the development of self-regulation.  Advances in child development and behavior ,  40 , 379-412. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-386491-8.00010-4

Prasko, J., Mozny, P., Novotny, M., Slepecky, M., & Vyskocilova, J. (2012). Self-reflection in cognitive behavioural therapy and supervision.  Biomedical Papers of the Medical Faculty of Palacky University in Olomouc ,  156 (4).

Travers, C. J., Morisano, D., & Locke, E. A. (2015). Self‐reflection, growth goals, and academic outcomes: A qualitative study.  British journal of educational psychology ,  85 (2), 224-241.

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Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

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Examples of Reflective Writing

Types of reflective writing assignments.

A journal  requires you to write weekly entries throughout a semester. May require you to base your reflection on course content.

A learning diary is similar to a journal, but may require group participation. The diary then becomes a place for you to communicate in writing with other group members.

A logbook is often used in disciplines based on experimental work, such as science. You note down or 'log' what you have done. A log gives you an accurate record of a process and helps you reflect on past actions and make better decisions for future actions.

A reflective note is often used in law. A reflective note encourages you to think about your personal reaction to a legal issue raised in a course.

An essay diary  can take the form of an annotated bibliography (where you examine sources of evidence you might include in your essay) and a critique (where you reflect on your own writing and research processes).

a peer review  usually involves students showing their work to their peers for feedback.

A self-assessment task  requires you to comment on your own work.

Some examples of reflective writing

Social science fieldwork report (methods section), engineering design report, learning journal (weekly reflection).

Brookfield, S 1987, Developing critical thinkers: challenging adults to explore alternative ways of thinking and acting , Open University Press, Milton Keynes.

Mezirow, J 1990, Fostering critical reflection in adulthood: a guide to transformative and emancipatory learning , Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.

Schön, DA 1987, Educating the reflective practitioner , Jossey-Bass. San Francisco.

We thank the students who permitted us to feature examples of their writing.

Prepared by Academic Skills, UNSW. This guide may be distributed or adapted for educational purposes. Full and proper acknowledgement is required. 

Essay and assignment writing guide

• Essay writing basics
• Essay and assignment planning
• Answering assignment questions
• Editing checklist
• Writing a critical review
• Annotated bibliography
• How do I write reflectively?
• Examples of reflective writing
• ^ More support

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Self Reflection Essay

What goes through your mind when you have to write a self reflection essay? Do you ponder on your life choices, the actions you take to get where you want to be or where you are now? If you answered yes and yes to both of the questions, you are on the right track and have some idea on what a reflection essay would look like. This article would help give you more ideas on how to write a self reflection essay , how it looks like, what to put in it and some examples for you to use. So what are you waiting for? Check these out now.

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10+ Self Reflection Essay Examples

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Defining Self

A person’s self that is different from the rest. On occasions it is considered as an object of a person’s view.

Defining Self Reflection

A self reflection is often described as taking a step back to reflect on your life. To take a break and observe how far you have become, the obstacles you have gone through and how they have affected your life, behavior and belief.

Defining Self Reflection Essay

A self- reflection essay is a type of essay that makes you express the experiences you have gone through in life based on a topic you have chosen to write about. It is a personal type of essay that you write about.  It makes you reflect on your life and journey to who you are today. The struggles, the fears, the triumphs and the actions you have taken to arrive at your current situation.

Tips on Writing a Self Reflection Essay

When writing a self reflection essay, there are some guidelines and formats to follow. But I am here to give you some tips to write a very good self reflection essay. These tips are easy to follow and they are not as complicated as some might believe them to be. Let’s begin. To write a good self reflection essay, one must first do:

• Think : Think about what you want to write. This is true for the title of your essay as well. Thinking about what to write first can save you a lot of time. After this tip, we move on to the next one which is:
• Drafting : As much as it sounds like a waste of time and effort, drafting what you are preparing to write is helpful. Just like in the first tip, drafting is a good way of writing down what you want and to add or take out what you will be writing later.
• State the purpose : Why are you writing this essay? State the purpose of the essay . As this is a self reflective essay, your purpose is to reflect on your life, the actions you did to reach this point of your life. The things you did to achieve it as well.
• Know your audience : Your self reflection essay may also depend on your audience. If you are planning on reading out loud your essay, your essay should fit your audience. If your audience is your team members, use the correct wording.
• Share your tips: This essay gives you the opportunity to share how you have achieved in life. Write down some tips for those who want to be able to achieve the same opportunity you are in right now.

How long or short can my self reflection essay be?

This depends on you. You may write a short self reflection essay, and you may also write a long one. The important thing there is stating the purpose of you writing your essay.

Writing a self reflection essay, am I allowed to write everything about my life?

The purpose of the self reflection essay is to reflect on a topic you choose and to talk about it.

Is there a limit of words to write this type of essay?

Yes, as much as possible stick to 300-700 words. But even if it may be this short, don’t forget to get creative and true in your essay.

A self reflective essay is a type of essay that people write to reflect on their lives. To reflect on a certain topic of their life and talk about it. Most of the time, this type of essay is short because this is merely to take a step back and watch your life throughout the beginning till the present time. Writing this type of essay may be a bit difficult for some as you have to dive deep into your life and remember the triumphs and the loss. The beauty of this essay though is the fact that you are able to see how far you have reached, how far you have overcome.

Self Reflection Essay Generator

Text prompt

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Write a Self Reflection Essay on a time you overcame a personal obstacle.

Reflect on your personal growth over the last year in your Self Reflection Essay.

Guide on How to Write a Reflection Paper with Free Tips and Example

A reflection paper is a very common type of paper among college students. Almost any subject you enroll in requires you to express your opinion on certain matters. In this article, we will explain how to write a reflection paper and provide examples and useful tips to make the essay writing process easier.

Reflection papers should have an academic tone yet be personal and subjective. In this paper, you should analyze and reflect upon how an experience, academic task, article, or lecture shaped your perception and thoughts on a subject.

Here is what you need to know about writing an effective critical reflection paper. Stick around until the end of our guide to get some useful writing tips from the writing team at EssayPro — a research paper writing service

What Is a Reflection Paper

A reflection paper is a type of paper that requires you to write your opinion on a topic, supporting it with your observations and personal experiences. As opposed to presenting your reader with the views of other academics and writers, in this essay, you get an opportunity to write your point of view—and the best part is that there is no wrong answer. It is YOUR opinion, and it is your job to express your thoughts in a manner that will be understandable and clear for all readers that will read your paper. The topic range is endless. Here are some examples: whether or not you think aliens exist, your favorite TV show, or your opinion on the outcome of WWII. You can write about pretty much anything.

There are three types of reflection paper; depending on which one you end up with, the tone you write with can be slightly different. The first type is the educational reflective paper. Here your job is to write feedback about a book, movie, or seminar you attended—in a manner that teaches the reader about it. The second is the professional paper. Usually, it is written by people who study or work in education or psychology. For example, it can be a reflection of someone’s behavior. And the last is the personal type, which explores your thoughts and feelings about an individual subject.

However, reflection paper writing will stop eventually with one very important final paper to write - your resume. This is where you will need to reflect on your entire life leading up to that moment. To learn how to list education on resume perfectly, follow the link on our dissertation writing services .

Unlock the potential of your thoughts with EssayPro . Order a reflection paper and explore a range of other academic services tailored to your needs. Dive deep into your experiences, analyze them with expert guidance, and turn your insights into an impactful reflection paper.

Free Reflection Paper Example

Now that we went over all of the essentials about a reflection paper and how to approach it, we would like to show you some examples that will definitely help you with getting started on your paper.

Reflection Paper Format

Reflection papers typically do not follow any specific format. Since it is your opinion, professors usually let you handle them in any comfortable way. It is best to write your thoughts freely, without guideline constraints. If a personal reflection paper was assigned to you, the format of your paper might depend on the criteria set by your professor. College reflection papers (also known as reflection essays) can typically range from about 400-800 words in length.

Here’s how we can suggest you format your reflection paper:

How to Start a Reflection Paper

The first thing to do when beginning to work on a reflection essay is to read your article thoroughly while taking notes. Whether you are reflecting on, for example, an activity, book/newspaper, or academic essay, you want to highlight key ideas and concepts.

You can start writing your reflection paper by summarizing the main concept of your notes to see if your essay includes all the information needed for your readers. It is helpful to add charts, diagrams, and lists to deliver your ideas to the audience in a better fashion.

After you have finished reading your article, it’s time to brainstorm. We’ve got a simple brainstorming technique for writing reflection papers. Just answer some of the basic questions below:

• How did the article affect you?
• How does this article catch the reader’s attention (or does it all)?
• Has the article changed your mind about something? If so, explain how.
• Has the article left you with any questions?
• Were there any unaddressed critical issues that didn’t appear in the article?
• Does the article relate to anything from your past reading experiences?
• Does the article agree with any of your past reading experiences?

Here are some reflection paper topic examples for you to keep in mind before preparing to write your own:

• How my views on rap music have changed over time
• My reflection and interpretation of Moby Dick by Herman Melville
• Why my theory about the size of the universe has changed over time
• How my observations for clinical psychological studies have developed in the last year

The result of your brainstorming should be a written outline of the contents of your future paper. Do not skip this step, as it will ensure that your essay will have a proper flow and appropriate organization.

Another good way to organize your ideas is to write them down in a 3-column chart or table.

Do you want your task look awesome?

If you would like your reflection paper to look professional, feel free to check out one of our articles on how to format MLA, APA or Chicago style

Writing a Reflection Paper Outline

Reflection paper should contain few key elements:

Introduction

Your introduction should specify what you’re reflecting upon. Make sure that your thesis informs your reader about your general position, or opinion, toward your subject.

• State what you are analyzing: a passage, a lecture, an academic article, an experience, etc...)
• Briefly summarize the work.
• Write a thesis statement stating how your subject has affected you.

One way you can start your thesis is to write:

Example: “After reading/experiencing (your chosen topic), I gained the knowledge of…”

Body Paragraphs

The body paragraphs should examine your ideas and experiences in context to your topic. Make sure each new body paragraph starts with a topic sentence.

Your reflection may include quotes and passages if you are writing about a book or an academic paper. They give your reader a point of reference to fully understand your feedback. Feel free to describe what you saw, what you heard, and how you felt.

Example: “I saw many people participating in our weight experiment. The atmosphere felt nervous yet inspiring. I was amazed by the excitement of the event.”

As with any conclusion, you should summarize what you’ve learned from the experience. Next, tell the reader how your newfound knowledge has affected your understanding of the subject in general. Finally, describe the feeling and overall lesson you had from the reading or experience.

There are a few good ways to conclude a reflection paper:

• Tie all the ideas from your body paragraphs together, and generalize the major insights you’ve experienced.
• Restate your thesis and summarize the content of your paper.

We have a separate blog post dedicated to writing a great conclusion. Be sure to check it out for an in-depth look at how to make a good final impression on your reader.

Need a hand? Get help from our writers. Edit, proofread or buy essay .

How to Write a Reflection Paper: Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: create a main theme.

After you choose your topic, write a short summary about what you have learned about your experience with that topic. Then, let readers know how you feel about your case — and be honest. Chances are that your readers will likely be able to relate to your opinion or at least the way you form your perspective, which will help them better understand your reflection.

For example: After watching a TEDx episode on Wim Hof, I was able to reevaluate my preconceived notions about the negative effects of cold exposure.

Step 2: Brainstorm Ideas and Experiences You’ve Had Related to Your Topic

You can write down specific quotes, predispositions you have, things that influenced you, or anything memorable. Be personal and explain, in simple words, how you felt.

For example: • A lot of people think that even a small amount of carbohydrates will make people gain weight • A specific moment when I struggled with an excess weight where I avoided carbohydrates entirely • The consequences of my actions that gave rise to my research • The evidence and studies of nutritional science that claim carbohydrates alone are to blame for making people obese • My new experience with having a healthy diet with a well-balanced intake of nutrients • The influence of other people’s perceptions on the harm of carbohydrates, and the role their influence has had on me • New ideas I’ve created as a result of my shift in perspective

Step 3: Analyze How and Why These Ideas and Experiences Have Affected Your Interpretation of Your Theme

Pick an idea or experience you had from the last step, and analyze it further. Then, write your reasoning for agreeing or disagreeing with it.

For example, Idea: I was raised to think that carbohydrates make people gain weight.

Analysis: Most people think that if they eat any carbohydrates, such as bread, cereal, and sugar, they will gain weight. I believe in this misconception to such a great extent that I avoided carbohydrates entirely. As a result, my blood glucose levels were very low. I needed to do a lot of research to overcome my beliefs finally. Afterward, I adopted the philosophy of “everything in moderation” as a key to a healthy lifestyle.

For example: Idea: I was brought up to think that carbohydrates make people gain weight. Analysis: Most people think that if they eat any carbohydrates, such as bread, cereal, and sugar, they will gain weight. I believe in this misconception to such a great extent that I avoided carbohydrates entirely. As a result, my blood glucose levels were very low. I needed to do a lot of my own research to finally overcome my beliefs. After, I adopted the philosophy of “everything in moderation” as a key for having a healthy lifestyle.

Step 4: Make Connections Between Your Observations, Experiences, and Opinions

Try to connect your ideas and insights to form a cohesive picture for your theme. You can also try to recognize and break down your assumptions, which you may challenge in the future.

There are some subjects for reflection papers that are most commonly written about. They include:

• Book – Start by writing some information about the author’s biography and summarize the plot—without revealing the ending to keep your readers interested. Make sure to include the names of the characters, the main themes, and any issues mentioned in the book. Finally, express your thoughts and reflect on the book itself.
• Course – Including the course name and description is a good place to start. Then, you can write about the course flow, explain why you took this course, and tell readers what you learned from it. Since it is a reflection paper, express your opinion, supporting it with examples from the course.
• Project – The structure for a reflection paper about a project has identical guidelines to that of a course. One of the things you might want to add would be the pros and cons of the course. Also, mention some changes you might want to see, and evaluate how relevant the skills you acquired are to real life.
• Interview – First, introduce the person and briefly mention the discussion. Touch on the main points, controversies, and your opinion of that person.

Writing Tips

Everyone has their style of writing a reflective essay – and that's the beauty of it; you have plenty of leeway with this type of paper – but there are still a few tips everyone should incorporate.

Before you start your piece, read some examples of other papers; they will likely help you better understand what they are and how to approach yours. When picking your subject, try to write about something unusual and memorable — it is more likely to capture your readers' attention. Never write the whole essay at once. Space out the time slots when you work on your reflection paper to at least a day apart. This will allow your brain to generate new thoughts and reflections.

• Short and Sweet – Most reflection papers are between 250 and 750 words. Don't go off on tangents. Only include relevant information.
• Clear and Concise – Make your paper as clear and concise as possible. Use a strong thesis statement so your essay can follow it with the same strength.
• Maintain the Right Tone – Use a professional and academic tone—even though the writing is personal.
• Cite Your Sources – Try to cite authoritative sources and experts to back up your personal opinions.
• Proofreading – Not only should you proofread for spelling and grammatical errors, but you should proofread to focus on your organization as well. Answer the question presented in the introduction.

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How to Write About Yourself in a College Essay | Examples

Published on September 21, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on May 31, 2023.

An insightful college admissions essay requires deep self-reflection, authenticity, and a balance between confidence and vulnerability. Your essay shouldn’t just be a resume of your experiences; colleges are looking for a story that demonstrates your most important values and qualities.

To write about your achievements and qualities without sounding arrogant, use specific stories to illustrate them. You can also write about challenges you’ve faced or mistakes you’ve made to show vulnerability and personal growth.

Table of contents

Start with self-reflection, how to write about challenges and mistakes, how to write about your achievements and qualities, how to write about a cliché experience, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

Before you start writing, spend some time reflecting to identify your values and qualities. You should do a comprehensive brainstorming session, but here are a few questions to get you started:

• What are three words your friends or family would use to describe you, and why would they choose them?
• Whom do you admire most and why?
• What are the top five things you are thankful for?
• What has inspired your hobbies or future goals?
• What are you most proud of? Ashamed of?

As you self-reflect, consider how your values and goals reflect your prospective university’s program and culture, and brainstorm stories that demonstrate the fit between the two.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Writing about difficult experiences can be an effective way to show authenticity and create an emotional connection to the reader, but choose carefully which details to share, and aim to demonstrate how the experience helped you learn and grow.

Be vulnerable

It’s not necessary to have a tragic story or a huge confession. But you should openly share your thoughts, feelings, and experiences to evoke an emotional response from the reader. Even a cliché or mundane topic can be made interesting with honest reflection. This honesty is a preface to self-reflection and insight in the essay’s conclusion.

Don’t overshare

With difficult topics, you shouldn’t focus too much on negative aspects. Instead, use your challenging circumstances as a brief introduction to how you responded positively.

Share what you have learned

It’s okay to include your failure or mistakes in your essay if you include a lesson learned. After telling a descriptive, honest story, you should explain what you learned and how you applied it to your life.

While it’s good to sell your strengths, you also don’t want to come across as arrogant. Instead of just stating your extracurricular activities, achievements, or personal qualities, aim to discreetly incorporate them into your story.

Brag indirectly

Mention your extracurricular activities or awards in passing, not outright, to avoid sounding like you’re bragging from a resume.

Use stories to prove your qualities

Even if you don’t have any impressive academic achievements or extracurriculars, you can still demonstrate your academic or personal character. But you should use personal examples to provide proof. In other words, show evidence of your character instead of just telling.

Many high school students write about common topics such as sports, volunteer work, or their family. Your essay topic doesn’t have to be groundbreaking, but do try to include unexpected personal details and your authentic voice to make your essay stand out .

To find an original angle, try these techniques:

• Focus on a specific moment, and describe the scene using your five senses.
• Mention objects that have special significance to you.
• Instead of following a common story arc, include a surprising twist or insight.

Your unique voice can shed new perspective on a common human experience while also revealing your personality. When read out loud, the essay should sound like you are talking.

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

• Writing process
• Transition words
• Passive voice
• Paraphrasing

 Communication

• How to end an email
• Ms, mrs, miss
• How to start an email
• I hope this email finds you well
• Hope you are doing well

 Parts of speech

• Personal pronouns
• Conjunctions

First, spend time reflecting on your core values and character . You can start with these questions:

However, you should do a comprehensive brainstorming session to fully understand your values. Also consider how your values and goals match your prospective university’s program and culture. Then, brainstorm stories that illustrate the fit between the two.

When writing about yourself , including difficult experiences or failures can be a great way to show vulnerability and authenticity, but be careful not to overshare, and focus on showing how you matured from the experience.

Through specific stories, you can weave your achievements and qualities into your essay so that it doesn’t seem like you’re bragging from a resume.

Include specific, personal details and use your authentic voice to shed a new perspective on a common human experience.

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87 Self-Reflection Questions for Introspection [+Exercises]

Do you sometimes take time to clarify your values in a moment of doubt or uncertainty?

If you answered “yes,” you are no stranger to self-reflection and introspection (terms that will be used more or less interchangeably in this article), an important psychological exercise that can help you grow, develop your mind, and extract value from your mistakes.

Read on if you’d like to learn the meaning of self-reflection and introspection, reasons why it’s important, and tools and techniques for practicing it yourself.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Self-Compassion Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will not only help you increase the compassion and kindness you show yourself but will also give you the tools to help your clients, students, or employees show more compassion to themselves.

This Article Contains:

What is introspection a definition, what is the importance of introspection, 70 self-reflective questions to ask yourself, 10 self-reflection exercises, activities, and techniques for adults and students, 4 self-reflection worksheets and tools, the 3 best books on self-reflection and introspection, a take-home message.

Introspection can be practiced both as an informal reflection process and a formal experimental approach, and the two have different definitions. Still, both processes can be undertaken by anyone with curiosity and determination (Cherry, 2016).

The informal reflection process can be defined as examining one’s own internal thoughts and feelings and reflecting on what they mean. The process can be focused on either one’s current mental experience or mental experiences from the very recent past.

The formal experimental technique is a more objective and standardized version of this, in which people train themselves to carefully analyze the contents of their own thoughts in a way that’s as unbiased as possible.

The original idea of introspection was developed by Wilhelm Wundt in the late 1800s (McLeod, 2008). Wundt focused on three areas of mental functioning: thoughts, images, and feelings. Wundt’s work eventually led to the current work on perceptual processes and the establishment of the field of cognitive psychology .

Researchers have shown that we think more than 50,000 thoughts per day, of which more than half are negative and more than 90% are just repeats from the day before (Wood, 2013).

If you don’t make the time and effort to refocus your mind on the positive through introspection, you won’t give yourself the opportunity to grow and develop.

Enhancing our ability to understand ourselves and our motivations and to learn more about our own values helps us take the power away from the distractions of our modern, fast-paced lives and instead refocus on fulfillment (Wood, 2013).

The importance of doing it right

Reflecting on ourselves and our environments is a healthy and adaptive practice, but it should be undertaken with some care—there is, in fact, a wrong way to do it.

When your focus on introspection has morphed from a dedication to an obsession, you have taken it too far. In fact, those who take self-reflection too far can end up feeling more stressed, depressed, and anxious than ever (Eurich, 2017).

In addition, it is all too easy for us to fool ourselves into thinking we have found some deep insight that may or may not be accurate. We are surprisingly good at coming up with rational explanations for the irrational behaviors we engage in (Dahl, 2017).

To help stay on the right path with your self-reflection, consider asking more “what” questions than “why” questions. “Why” questions can highlight our limitations and stir up negative emotions, while “what” questions help keep us curious and positive about the future (Eurich, 2017).

With this important point in mind, let’s move on to the questions, exercises, and worksheets that you can use to work on your own self-reflection.

Read through the following three lists to get some ideas for introspective questions. Answering them can take you from feeling like you don’t understand yourself to knowing yourself like the back of your hand.

These 10 questions are great ways to jumpstart self-reflection (Woronko, n.d.):

• Am I using my time wisely?
• Am I taking anything for granted?
• Am I employing a healthy perspective?
• Am I living true to myself?
• Am I waking up in the morning ready to take on the day?
• Am I thinking negative thoughts before I fall asleep?
• Am I putting enough effort into my relationships?
• Am I taking care of myself physically?
• Am I letting matters that are out of my control stress me out?
• Am I achieving the goals that I’ve set for myself?

The following 30 questions are questions you can ask yourself every day to get to know yourself better (William, n.d.):

• Who am I, really?
• What worries me most about the future?
• If this were the last day of my life, would I have the same plans for today?
• What am I really scared of?
• Am I holding on to something I need to let go of?
• If not now, then when?
• What matters most in my life?
• What am I doing about the things that matter most in my life?
• Why do I matter?
• Have I done anything lately that’s worth remembering?
• Have I made someone smile today?
• What have I given up on?
• When did I last push the boundaries of my comfort zone?
• If I had to instill one piece of advice in a newborn baby, what advice would I give?
• What small act of kindness was I once shown that I will never forget?
• How will I live, knowing I will die?
• What do I need to change about myself?
• Is it more important to love or be loved?
• How many of my friends would I trust with my life?
• Who has had the greatest impact on my life?
• Would I break the law to save a loved one?
• Would I steal to feed a starving child?
• What do I want most in life?
• What is life asking of me?
• Which is worse: failing or never trying?
• If I try to fail and succeed, what have I done?
• What’s the one thing I’d like others to remember about me at the end of my life?
• Does it really matter what others think about me?
• To what degree have I actually controlled the course of my life?
• When all is said and done, what will I have said more than I’ve done?

Finally, the following 30 prompts and questions are great ways to put your journal to use (Tartakovsky, 2014):

• My favorite way to spend the day is . . .
• If I could talk to my teenage self, the one thing I would say is . . .
• The two moments I’ll never forget in my life are . . . (Describe them in great detail, and what makes them so unforgettable.)
• Make a list of 30 things that make you smile.
• “Write about a moment experienced through your body. Making love, making breakfast, going to a party, having a fight, an experience you’ve had or you imagine for your character. Leave out thought and emotion, and let all information be conveyed through the body and senses.”
• The words I’d like to live by are . . .
• I couldn’t imagine living without . . .
• When I’m in pain—physical or emotional—the kindest thing I can do for myself is . . .
• Make a list of the people in your life who genuinely support you, and whom you can genuinely trust. Then, make time to hang out with them.
• What does unconditional love look like for you?
• What things would you do if you loved yourself unconditionally? How can you act on these things, even if you’re not yet able to love yourself unconditionally?
• I really wish others knew this about me . . .
• Name what is enough for you.
• If my body could talk, it would say . . .
• Name a compassionate way you’ve supported a friend recently. Then, write down how you can do the same for yourself.
• What do you love about life?
• What always brings tears to your eyes? (As Paulo Coelho has said, “Tears are words that need to be written.”)
• Write about a time when your work felt real, necessary and satisfying to you, whether the work was paid or unpaid, professional or domestic, physical or mental.
• Write about your first love—whether it’s a person, place or thing.
• Using 10 words, describe yourself.
• What’s surprised you the most about your life or life in general?
• What can you learn from your biggest mistakes?
• I feel most energized when . . .
• “Write a list of questions to which you urgently need answers.”
• Make a list of everything that inspires you—whether books, websites, quotes, people, paintings, stores, or stars in the sky.
• What’s one topic you need to learn more about to help you live a more fulfilling life? (Then, follow through and learn more about that topic.)
• I feel happiest in my skin when . . .
• Make a list of everything you’d like to say no to.
• Make a list of everything you’d like to say yes to.
• Write the words you need to hear.

For example, the five self-examination exercises listed below (Bates, 2012) are a good way to get started with self-reflection. They’re simple and easy to do, but they can familiarize you with the process for more in-depth reflection in the future.

Self-Examination Exercise 1

Consider whether or not you tend to analyze people or diagnose their problems for them without their encouragement or request.

Often when we hold information that has helped us to make sense of the world, we want to share it. This information, when unprompted and delivered to another person, sometimes doesn’t feel so good. They may feel like you are telling them that something about them is wrong, something that they might not necessarily agree with.

Remind yourself that this information needs to be asked for and not prescribed by you, no matter how valid it feels to pass it on (Bates, 2012).

Self-Examination Exercise 2

This is a good exercise if you tend to expend a lot of energy trying to understand what upsets you about another person’s actions. You may also spend a lot of energy thinking of ways to address that person about what upsets you.

Not only does this burn a lot of your energy, but it also can have an unintended effect on the person who has upset you. When you place a clear emphasis or focus on what is wrong when speaking with someone, it implies that you are dissatisfied and unhappy.

Usually, the issue you have is not something that is making you terribly unhappy, just an annoyance or irritation, so this doom and gloom is not the message you want to deliver. It’s just a single issue that needs attention, but it can seem much bigger and more pervasive to the person you are planning to discuss it with.

Try to remind yourself that this problem, no matter how valid an issue it is or how important it is to you, is not the whole of your feelings. When you deliver this information, remember that a person who loves you does not want to be the cause of your unhappiness—do not make them feel an unnecessary amount of pain as a result of the unhappiness they’ve caused you.

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Self-Examination Exercise 3

Do you frequently interrupt people or constantly think of your own stories to share while they are talking? If you’re like a lot of social people, the answer is probably yes.

In order to relate to others, we have to share a little bit of ourselves with them—your stories can help you establish common ground with others or make you closer with them. However, if you’re only focused on sharing your stories, it can distract you from the greater purpose of a conversation.

In our eagerness to relate, please, entertain, and share, we often remove ourselves from the present, reducing our ability to be sensitive and engaged listeners. Even if we spend our whole lives trying to be good listeners , sometimes we slip out of practice in empathizing or identifying with the person we’re talking to, or we lose an opportunity to comfort or entertain the other person.

Next time you have a conversation with a loved one and you find yourself thinking ahead of them, take a moment to pause and truly listen. Don’t think about how you can personally identify with what they are talking about, and don’t search your memory bank for a relevant story of your own—just listen.

It’s a rewarding experience to truly soak in what another person is saying, both for you and the other person (Bates, 2012).

Self-Examination Exercise 4

Sometimes when we work very hard to do good things, we get to a level of comfort with that fact, and we begin to talk about it to others. That can be a great thing in that it allows us to own our efforts and our actions and, with that, acknowledge our goodness to ourselves.

But for this exercise, consider how you might feel if you were to do things that are good, but only for your own knowledge. The next time you do something really wonderful, try keeping that wonderful thing to yourself and not sharing it with anyone.

Often when a person is good and loving, they don’t have to tell anyone; it’s a truth that shines from every angle of their person. As an experiment, keep some knowledge to yourself, as a gift to you (Bates, 2012).

Self-Examination Exercise 5

For this exercise, you need only to do one thing: Consider what you don’t know.

When we get to a place of comfort in our skin and in the world, we tend to lose the ability to see things from a different perspective. Things make sense to us in our own point of view, so what’s left to know?

Everything, it turns out.

By this, we mean to try and remind yourself of these facts: You cannot know or understand everything, and you are not the judge of what is right for another person.

You can neither read minds nor know what the future holds. You can only exist in one moment at a time, and you are changing every day.

Trust that sometimes others know themselves and their lives better than you ever could. Listen with the awareness that you might learn something new.

Be open to the fact that you might one day feel totally different about something that you believe to be fixed—and that includes your sticking points, the “unchangeables” you thought were forever set in stone. Let what you don’t know and can’t know be a comfort rather than something to fear, because it means that anything is possible (Bates, 2012).

Once you have found your footing with these self-examination exercises, the following introspective exercises are a great next step.

4 Self-reflection technique – OER Africa

Affirmations

Creating affirmations is a helpful way to clear your mind and put things in perspective. Affirmations can be defined as positive phrases or statements used to challenge  negative or unhelpful thoughts .

For this exercise, write a list of at least 50 affirmations. They should address what you want to embrace, improve, and achieve in your life.

Follow these instructions when composing and practicing your affirmations:

• Write the affirmations in the present tense and be sure to use the word “I” throughout the affirmations;
• Focus on the things that are occurring now that will lead to your future success. You may have negative thoughts pop up, but do your best to let go of the negative thoughts and replace them with positive thinking;
• Repeat your affirmations aloud to help reprogram your mind with more positive thoughts.

Following these steps can help you open yourself up to the positive in your life and take steps that will lead you to the future you want (Holothink, n.d.).

Subconscious Mind Exercise

In this exercise, you will dive into your subconscious. Don’t worry, it’s not as painful or scary as it sounds!

Your subconscious mind is where your self-image is stored. All of your attitudes, experiences, beliefs, and values are stored deep in your subconscious, driving your behavior and forming the core of who you are.

We don’t often take time to think about ourselves on this level. So in this exercise, take some time and put a concerted effort into thinking about your attitudes, experiences, beliefs, and values. It may take a few sessions of self-reflection to really uncover your core beliefs, but it’s worth the effort it takes to learn about yourself.

Reflecting on this core component of yourself will help you gain greater self-awareness . Much like meditation, it will help you achieve a new, higher level of consciousness, and it may just help you find valuable information and answers about yourself and your beliefs (Holothink, n.d.).

Visualization Exercise

This exercise offers you an opportunity to put your creativity to use.

Create a box, a vision board, or some other medium to store and display who you are and what your hopes and dreams are for the future. You can create or decorate your box or board however you’d like. Use whatever you feel represents yourself and what’s important to you.

Place pictures, words, drawings, poems, or small items of personal significance on your board or in your box. The more details you include, the better.

The end result is a visual representation of yourself and what you love. Come back to the box or board when you’re having a dilemma or trying to figure out the best course of action, and draw from this visual representation of yourself to help you make decisions (Holothink, n.d.).

For this exercise, feel free to put your imagination to good use—the sky’s the limit when it comes to visualization.

Questions About Yourself

This exercise is simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. All you need to do is ask yourself some questions.

Ask yourself questions about yourself. Write down the questions, then write down your answers to the questions. Ask yourself about your past, present, and future, and compose answers to the questions that are positive, insightful, and motivating to you.

Don’t worry about coming up with the “right” answers—there aren’t any right answers, and your answers will likely change over time. And be as creative as you’d like with the questions and answers since no one else needs to answer or read them but you.

Be sure to structure your questions to include details about your hopes and dreams. The more detailed your questions and answers, the more opportunity you have to dig into some valuable self-reflection (Holothink, n.d.).

Write and Reflect

Journaling is great for many reasons, and it can be used in several applications for introspection.

For this exercise, get a journal , diary, or notebook with plenty of pages to write in.

Every day, write down three things in your journal:

• At least one positive thing that happened to or around you today;
• A question for yourself (you can use one of the questions from the previous exercise, a question from the lists we covered earlier, or something entirely new), but don’t answer it yet;
• A reflection on the question you wrote the previous day for yourself and an answer to it.

Following these steps, you will write only the first two components on the first day but will write three components every day thereafter (Holothink, n.d.).

Self-Awareness Worksheet

This worksheet is a treasure trove of exercises and ideas to help you think about yourself, including your talents, qualities, values, and perceptions.

The point of this worksheet is to help you know and understand:

• Your beliefs and principles;
• What you value and what is important to you;
• What motivates you;
• Your own emotions ;
• Your thinking patterns;
• Your tendencies to react to certain situations;
• What you want out of life.

There are several sections to this worksheet, each of which has its own set of questions and prompts:

– Talents

• What are your greatest talents or skills?
• Which of your talents or skills gives you the greatest sense of pride or satisfaction?

– Traits/Qualities

• What are your five greatest strengths?
• What do you feel are your two biggest weaknesses?
• What qualities or traits do you most admire in others?

– Values

• What are ten things that are really important to you?
• What are the three most important things to you?
• What are the values that you hold nearest to your heart?

– Perception

• How is the “public you” different from the “private you”?
• What do you want people to think and say about you?
• Is it more important to be liked by others or to be yourself? Why?

– Accomplishments

• What three things are you most proud of in your life to date?
• What do you hope to achieve in life?
• If you could accomplish only one thing before you died, what would it be?

– Reflection

• What is something that represents you (e.g., song, animal, flower, poem, symbol, jewelry, etc.)? Why?
• What three things would you like to change most about yourself?
• List three things that you are.

– Finish the Sentence

In the final section, you will be shown several prompts to complete:

• I do my best when . . .
• I struggle when . . .
• I am comfortable when . . .
• I feel stress when . . .
• I am courageous when . . .
• One of the most important things I learned was . . .
• I missed a great opportunity when . . .
• One of my favorite memories is . . .
• My toughest decisions involve . . .
• Being myself is hard because . . .
• I can be myself when . . .
• I wish I were more . . .
• I wish I could . . .
• I wish I would regularly . . .
• I wish I had . . .
• I wish I knew . . .
• I wish I felt . . .
• I wish I saw . . .
• I wish I thought . . .
• Life should be about . . .
• I am going to make my life about . . .

Once you finish this worksheet, you should have plenty of insight into who you really are and what is most important to you. Use your answers to inform your decisions about what goals you choose to strive toward, what you would like to do in the future, and what moves to make next.

You can view, download, or print this worksheet for yourself.

The average human has more than 50,000 thoughts per day; more than half of them are negative, and more than 90% are just a repetition from the day before (Wood, 2013).

This means refocusing your mind on positive thoughts through introspection is essential for personal ascendance and growth. Most people take the end of the year as an opportunity to reflect on the past and set goals for the following year. However, reflections and introspection are critical at any point in time and enable your clients to grow.

Wilhelm Wundt developed the concept of introspection in the late 1800s (McLeod, 2008). According to him, introspection is focused on thoughts, images, and feelings. Introspective questions are often used in the field of cognitive psychology.

Understanding your clients allows you to learn more about their values, internal thoughts, and feelings. Furthermore, it takes the focus away from fast-paced lives and allows your client to be in the present moment and refocus on fulfillment (Wood, 2013).

Besides asking your client reflective questions, another tip is to practice active listening. Being able to stay entirely in the present moment without interruption or projecting your own story onto someone is key to helping your clients flourish. When the urge to share your story arises, pause and take the time to listen.

Tool 1: Persona

Before moving on to the empathy map below, first create a “persona,” or a clear character representation of your actual self, your ideal self, and your “ought” self (Kos, n.d.).

In order to create this persona, you will need to thoroughly analyze who you are, who you want to become, and what the social expectations connected to your feelings and behaviors are like in different situations.

Answering questions like the following can help you define these three important selves:

• Why do I want to become [enter a characteristic important to you] ? Who in my life was or is like that?
• Who would I be proud if I were [enter a characteristic important to you] ? Why?
• How are my feelings in certain situations connected with my actual, ideal, and ought self?
• Am I pushing myself to be something I’m actually not?
• Am I being something I’m not just because others expect it of me?

Use your answers to these questions to help you get an idea of who you are, who you want to be, and who you feel you ought to be. Once this preparation has been completed, move on to creating an empathy map.

Tool 2: Empathy Map

An empathy map can help you engage in a valuable and informative process of self-reflection, using all of your senses to help you identify your needs and the disconnections between what you say and what you do (Kos, n.d.). Don’t worry—we all have a disconnect between what we say and what we do.

This exercise can help you figure out where you have these disconnects and how you can best address them to become the person you want to be.

To create your empathy map, simply draw four quadrants on a piece of paper. Each quadrant represents a different aspect of yourself:

Next, consider a situation that evokes a specific strong emotion in you, like having a fight with your spouse or significant other. In each quadrant, write down the relevant aspects of each perspective.

For example, for the fight scenario, you could write down something like the following:

• Seeing: What are some of the things you saw during the situation?
• Doing: What actions did you do and which behaviors did you notice in yourself? What is the behavioral pattern you can identify?
• Thinking: What were you thinking in that situation? What does this tell you about your beliefs?
• Feeling: What emotions were you feeling? Why? Which past situation do they most remind you of?

On the backside of your piece of paper, on another piece of paper, or next to your four quadrants, create a fifth section. Here, you will write down your insights and ideas based on your empathy map.

The following questions can help you with the self-reflection process while you’re working on your map:

• How is the situation connected to your fears and hopes? What are your fears? What are your hopes? Which of your needs are met or not met in that situation?
• What was the environment in which you encountered the situation? What do you remember from the environment? How did you find yourself in that environment and why? What was your sight focused on?
• What hurts you most in the situation or makes you feel good about the situation?
• What was the feedback you gathered from your environment or other people?
• What are all the positives about the situation? What can you learn about yourself, others, and the world by experiencing that kind of a situation?

Do your best to avoid falling prey to cognitive distortions or reinforcing negative feelings while answering these questions. Go deep, and identify why you feel like you do. Observe, but don’t judge (Kos, n.d.).

Tool 3: Life Satisfaction Chart

A life satisfaction chart is a great way to assess how well you are meeting your goals and furthering your hopes for the future. You can complete this chart periodically to track your progress toward your goals and see what needs to be revised, improved, reduced, or eliminated to help you strive toward them.

Draw a scale from 1 (not at all satisfied) to 10 (extremely satisfied) horizontally, and list the following ten areas of life vertically:

• Relationships;
• Competencies;
• Spirituality ;
• Technology.

Assess your satisfaction in each of the 10 areas using the scale you created.

Next, take a second look at all the areas where you are only somewhat satisfied (where you used a rating between 4 and 7). It can be hard to effectively reflect when you don’t have a clear idea of whether you are satisfied with a specific area or not.

Go back through these “somewhat satisfied” areas and rate your satisfaction again, but use only ratings between 1 and 3 or 8 and 10. Limiting your options to either “very satisfied” or “not very satisfied” will help you to make a more decisive judgment about your satisfaction in each area.

Highlight every section rated with a 1, 2, or 3 with red, and highlight every section rated with an 8, 9, or 10 with green. Finally, for all ten areas of life, ask yourself, Why did you rate each area how you did? What would make you change your rating?

Repeat this exercise as often as you’d like to help you keep track of your satisfaction with the way your life is going (Kos, n.d.).

17 Exercises To Foster Self-Acceptance and Compassion

Help your clients develop a kinder, more accepting relationship with themselves using these 17 Self-Compassion Exercises [PDF] that promote self-care and self-compassion.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

There are many books out there on self-reflection, self-awareness , and introspection, but we recommend the books below as resources to help you start your journey.

1. Question Your Life: Naikan Self-Reflection and the Transformation of Our Stories – Gregg Krech

Like the physical bags we carry when we go on a journey, our hearts and our minds only have so much room—but instead of carrying luggage, they carry stories. Some stories inform our lives and help us understand ourselves, while others don’t serve a purpose and can weigh us down.

In this book, Krech will guide the reader through several powerful examples of people who had an important change of heart or mind as a result of quiet self-reflection, including a woman who hated her mother, a man estranged from his father, a pregnant woman hit by a train, a couple who was struggling with their marriage, and a rabbi who neglected his shoes.

Read this book to open yourself up to seeing the world differently, and finding a better path forward.

You can find it on Amazon .

2. Being Present: A Book of Daily Reflections – David Kundtz

Being present can be defined as:

• Paying full attention to what is going on right now;
• Staying in the moment;
• Observing what is, without criticism or judgment;
• Having a balanced concern for things exactly as they are;
• Accepting whatever experience one is having;
• Having an awake participation in ongoing life.

You can use this book as a reminder to be more present through every season of the year and every season of life. The book draws inspiration from poets, scientists, spiritual teachers, children, butterflies, and big cities, and teaches you to accept each day as one full of possibilities and potential surprises.

3. 52 Weeks of Self Reflection – Erika R. Dawkins

You can use this book to guide you through self-reflection. No matter your goal, this guidebook will help you clear your head, see the world from a new perspective, and build a greater understanding of yourself.

In this piece, we defined introspection, described the importance of self-reflection (especially healthy self-reflection), and provided many example exercises, activities, and worksheets for you to enhance your understanding of yourself.

Keep in mind that self-reflection is an intensely personal process. If you find other activities that work better for you, feel free to focus on those—but we’d love for you to come back here and share with us what works.

Do you have any other techniques for self-reflection that you like to use? How important do you think introspection is for the average person, or for yourself? Let us know in the comments.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Self Compassion Exercises for free .

• Bates, S. M. (2012, November 11). Check yo’ self: An exercise in self-reflection. Hello Giggles. Retrieved from https://hellogiggles.com/fashion/check-yo-self-an-exercise-in-self-reflection/
• Cherry, K. (2016, June 14). What is introspection? Wundt’s experimental technique. Very Well. Retrieved from https://www.verywell.com/what-is-introspection-2795252
• Dahl, M. (2017). Sometimes ‘introspection’ is you just making stuff up. Science of Us. Retrieved from http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2017/03/sometimes-introspection-is-you-just-making-stuff-up.html
• Eurich, T. (2017). The right way to be introspective (yes, there’s a wrong way). TED. Retrieved from https://ideas.ted.com/the-right-way-to-be-introspective-yes-theres-a-wrong-way/
• Holothink. (n.d.). The art of self-reflection – 5 exercises to find peace in your life. Holothink.org. Retrieved from https://holothink.org/the-art-of-self-reflection-%E2%80%93-5-exercises-to-find-peace-in-your-life/
• Kos, B. (n.d.). Tools to help you with self-reflection. Agile Lean Life. Retrieved from https://agileleanlife.com/tools-to-help-you-with-self-reflection/
• McLeod, S. (2008). Wilhelm Wundt. Simply Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/wundt.html
• Tartakovsky, M. (2014). 30 journaling prompts for self-reflection and self-discovery. Psych Central. Retrieved from https://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/09/27/30-journaling-prompts-for-self-reflection-and-self-discovery/
• William, D. K. (n.d.). 30 thought-provoking questions you should ask yourself every day. Lifehack. Retrieved from http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/30-thought-provoking-questions-you-should-ask-yourself-every-day.html
• Wood, K. (2013). The lost art of introspection: Why you must master yourself. Expert Enough. Retrieved from http://expertenough.com/2990/the-lost-art-of-introspection-why-you-must-master-yourself
• Woronko, M. (n.d.). The power of self-reflection: Ten questions you should ask yourself. Lifehack. Retrieved from http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/the-power-self-reflection-ten-questions-you-should-ask-yourself.html

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Fantastic article and each of the Reflective Question is like a light house taking us deep inside of our life experiences. Thank You with deep appreciation in preparing this.

Great article! Self-reflection is necessary for improvement!

A very informative article. I learned alot.

I would say ”Best” information I’ve ever read about Self-reflection

I am really impressed with your writing style. Keep it up. The way you explain a complex topic in an easy to understand way is really impressive. Thanks for your inspiring thoughts which guided me well during my journey and gave me the hope I was looking for in personal and professional life. Hats off for this content…

First of all, Thank you for writing this article. It was very useful for Self Motivation.. All the points are very important to our personal and professional career. This will be a useful book for everyone.

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• Educational Assessment

The Importance of Self-reflection Assignments Between Essays

• November 10, 2021
• Julia Colella, PhD

Each semester I have students complete different writing assignments in my critical thinking and writing course, including two essays: essay 1 (20%) and essay 2 (30%). In between these two essays, students submit a self-reflection of essay 1; assigning this assignment after essay 1 is completed provides students with the opportunity to reflect on what worked and what didn’t work as well as where they should make changes as they complete essay 2.

Completing a self-reflection provides students with several benefits; this practice, which is supported by research, provides students with the opportunity to make sense of and develop from an experience (Purdue University, 2020). As such, students are encouraged to consider what worked for them when they completed essay 1 as well as what changes they can implement for essay 2. By reflecting, students can develop their skills (The Open University, 2020). For example, being asked to reflect on different aspects of an assignment, including the steps taken to complete the assignment, can help students determine a better plan when completing the next assignment.

Guided self-reflections, where students are provided with specific criteria to focus on or specific questions to answer, provide learners with prompts to help get them started on the assignment. The intent of my self-reflection assignment is for students to consider how they will use my feedback, what their strengths are, and how they will ensure they submit the next assignment by the due date.

Not all students take the time to review my feedback on their written assignments. I have found that the self-reflection assignment is a great way to encourage students to review my feedback so they do not repeat the same mistakes on their next essay. Additionally, this assignment can help students restore their confidence from essay 1, especially if their mark was not that great as they are asked to highlight a strength from their current essay (see chart below).

The self-reflection I use consists of three questions. You are more than welcome to use any of these questions as you’d like or to modify the questions so they fit your learning outcomes. In addition to having students respond to the three questions below, I provide other guidelines (word count, paragraph format, topic sentence, etc.) which were assessed in essay 1 and will also be assessed in essay 2.

*Note: Although you may not be able to add a self-reflection to your course at this point in the semester, you may consider providing students with the option to complete the self-reflection or to complete one question for a bonus mark on the final exam/assignment.

Julia Colella is a communications professor at Lambton College in Sarnia, Ontario. Colella’s PhD is in education, and her research interests include student engagement, online learning, and academic integrity.

Purdue University. (2020). The purpose of reflection. Why is reflection important in the writing classroom? https://cla.purdue.edu/academic/english/icap/assessment/purpose.html

The Open University. (2020). The Open University and Unison in Partnership. http://www.open.ac.uk/choose/unison/develop/my-skills/self-reflection  

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Self-Reflection: How To Guide Including Questions (+ Worksheet & Exercises)

Self-Reflection is an essential skill to learn for anyone interested in getting to know themselves better. This how-to guide will show you what self-reflection is, why it is important, and how you can enhance your reflection skills with the right questions , exercises , and tools .

What Is a Self-Reflection?

Self-reflection is the art of honestly and critically observing and questioning your thoughts, feelings, and actions. The result of drawing the right conclusions from it is a fulfilling life, full of true satisfaction, and success.

In our fast-paced and media-dominated world, most people are so focused on external stimuli and the outside world that they completely lose sight of what is going on inside of them. Self-reflection is a great tool to hit the stop button and to look inwards and study oneself. If done right, it leads to true satisfaction and ultimately more success in life.

Many people are frustrated with how things go, doubt their decisions, and somehow feel stuck in their lives. They wonder what might be wrong and what causes these feelings, but without self-reflection, it’s barely possible to find an answer to these questions.

Self-reflection allows us to hit the pause button in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It allows us to take a deep breath, and to not only become aware of observations and experiences but also to classify and interpret them.

This process gives us new insights that we can use for our future thoughts and actions. Regular self-reflection is something that needs to be trained but it is easier than you might think. Let’s find out how:

Importance Of Self-Reflection – Two Studies Provide Evidence

Two studies provide impressive evidence of the importance of self-reflection. They show how it increases continuous personal development and growth , our performance in life, and our happiness:

Call center agents who spent just 15 minutes reflecting on their experience at the end of their workday were 23% more successful than those who didn’t. And this is the result of just ten days of regular self-reflection!

Another study with British commuters found a similar result. Those who were encouraged to use their commute on reflecting and planning their day were happier, more productive, and less stressed than participants who did not reflect.

What Is Self-Reflection? A Definition

Self-reflection can be described as conscious observation of one’s thoughts, feelings, and actions to gain insights from it for the future. We can reflect on ourselves as individuals, but also in the context of a group of people, for example as part of our family, relationship, or between colleagues at work.

However, self-reflection without deriving the right conclusions and concrete action steps is only worth half as much. Ideally, after each reflection, the following question should be asked:

What can I learn from this experience, and how can I apply this learning to my life?  

This is the foundation for real self-growth . If you skip this step, self-reflection is just a collection of interesting thoughts, that do not lead to any action.

If self-reflection is so important and invaluable, why doesn’t everyone do it?

Self-Reflection – Many People Don’t Know How-To

Successful self-reflection involves more than simply answering two or three thought-provoking questions . Some people find it difficult to fully engage in the reflection process. Self-reflection means to slow down and take out the pace of your everyday life and look at your thoughts, feelings, and actions from the perspective of a neutral observer. It’s a continuous process of thinking and reasoning.

A dash of curiosity and an open mind also helps immensely along the way. And this is difficult for many people in the beginning.

The process of self-reflection can lead to tremendously valuable insights and aha moments – but it can also reveal vulnerabilities and weaknesses which leads to discomfort and irritation for some people.

Self-Reflection Reveals Your Weaknesses and Mistakes

In the process of self-reflection, we become aware of our own mistakes and weaknesses. It often becomes obvious to us where we may have made a wrong decision or where we did not react as we should have. That’s good and allows us to learn from these experiences.

However, some people tend to dismiss such mistakes and prefer not to look at their failures, even if it provides a big chance for self-growth and self-improvement . Being brutally honest to oneself is unfamiliar and very difficult to most people. The good news is it can be learned, and once mastered it gives us an incredibly liberating feeling.

Great Reflection Skills – The Results Are Not Always Immediately Visible

„What’s my ROI?“

Self-reflection is a process. Our modern society trained us to expect immediate rewards for everything we do. But the fruits of reward for self-reflection are not always immediately visible. Sure, some aha-moments provide us with invaluable insights, but self-reflection is mostly a step-by-step process that shows its true value over time.

What Are The Benefits of Self-Reflection?

Self-reflection is a great way to.

• fully exploit your skills , talents, and potential by consciously recognizing what works and what doesn’t.
• know and understand yourself better with all your strengths and weaknesses.
• learn from positive and negative experiences for the future.
• recognize, understand and deal with problems and difficulties.
• find new solutions for seemingly hopeless situations.
• identify negative and false beliefs and thought patterns.
• identify negative or bad habits .
• become aware of your self-worth and impact on others.
• constantly question your actions and ways of thinking and thereby grow.
• gain more clarity in life.
• become more resilient in our everyday life. (Here are some Resilience Building Exercises & Tools )
• shape your own life consciously and mindfully .
• live happier and more satisfied.
• achieve your own goals sustainably.
• understand your feelings and thoughts better.
• consciously control feelings, thoughts, and emotions instead of being at the mercy of them.
• become aware of your perfectionism and all the situations where it affects you. (-> Overcome Perfectionism Worksheets )
• develop a feeling of what is good for you in the long term and what is not.
• live independently and free.

How to: Self-Reflection – Done Right! 6 Tips

For people who have had little experience with self-reflection so far, there are a few tips to make the process as easy and successful as possible:

1 – Find your topic

Figure out what you want to reflect on. Before you tackle the big question “Who am I?”, start small and work your way up. Some self-reflection questions to start are:

What is on your mind at the moment? Was there a particular incident or experience lately that you would like to look back on in more detail?

2 – The right place and the right time

Create an appointment in your calendar that allows you to fully concentrate on your self-reflection. No distractions, no stress, and no time pressure. Go to a quiet and comfortable place, where no one disturbs you.

3 – Start small

Don’t overwhelm yourself with the intention to self-reflect for an entire hour. To carve out 10 to 15 minutes is perfectly fine for the beginning. The more you practice, the easier it will become for you to spend more time on it.

4 – Journaling for Self-Reflection : Take notes – Write down your thoughts!

Writing down your thoughts, feelings, ideas, and observations helps to organize them. You will find it easier to recognize recurring patterns, topics, and thoughts . We remember things much more easily when we write them down, and writing encourages creativity and therefore often gives us additional perspectives on things.

Keeping a journal is a great way to organize your notes. You can write your journal in a physical notebook or online with a Coaching Software like CleverMemo . Writing things down also sharpens our focus. You vividly relive the situation with all your emotions and feelings.

5 – Repeatability, Traceability, and Order

Writing down our thoughts and insights (for example, in CleverMemo) allows us to recall things over and over again. We will easily understand what we thought and felt in that particular moment weeks or months ago if we write these things down properly.

Rereading our self-reflection after some time often gives us different perspectives and new insights. It is particularly helpful if we share our thoughts with another person, like a coach, counselor, or therapist. A third person will give us another neutral perspective.

6 – No Reflection Without Action

As already mentioned, self-reflection without the resulting conclusions and actions is only worth half as much. So make this a rule after each self-reflection – no matter the topic, to ask yourself this magic question:

What can I learn from this experience, and how can I apply this learning to my life?

The more detailed you plan and outline the necessary steps, the higher the chance to succeed. Remember: No reflection without action (plan)

Self-Reflection Tools, Exercises, And Worksheets

The Self-Reflection Toolkit is the number one resource to start self-reflecting today. It contains various exercises, worksheets, and questionnaires that don’t have to be completed in a specific order.

In addition to the general worksheets, such as the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly reflection, you will find some exercises sorted by topic that you can do as you see fit. Topics are job and business, relationship , but also learning from challenges or mistakes, and overcoming a crisis. Click here to find out more.

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Self-Reflection and Graduate School

Before even beginning the application process, you must consider your reasoning for attending graduate school. Here are some commonly cited reasons, good and bad:

• Grad school is a great way to put off having to deal with the real world.
• The job market is bad right now, but by the time I finish my degree it will be better.
• Others have been telling me I should go to grad school because I had good grades as an undergrad.
• My parents went to grad school, so I should too.
• If I don’t go to grad school, I’ll have to move back home.
• A graduate degree will guarantee me more money in a future job.
• I have no job offers, but a decent GPA.
• I enjoy teaching and research, and grad school is an opportunity to do both.
• Grad school is a great way to start over with my emotional life, especially since I just got dumped.
• Having a PhD would give me greater status and more self-worth.
• My work experience so far has been uninspiring, and I want to explore new opportunities that would come with a higher degree.
• I’ve applied for and received a scholarship, so I owe it to others to accept and use it.
• It’s a sanctioned and convenient way to defer my student loans.
• Quite simply, I love learning.

It’s easier to pass judgment on some of these reasons than others, but all are used regularly, and the most important realization about them is this: Even the worst of reasons doesn’t guarantee failure in grad school, just as even the best of reasons doesn’t guarantee success. Those who succeed in graduate school tend to have a dogged work ethic matched to an ambitious vision and a strong sense of obligation to self, while those who do not succeed tend to spend much of their emotional time questioning their own sense of value and purpose in the process. Because of the personal and professional challenges that come hand in hand with graduate education, all grad students experience concentrated periods of self-assessment, and responsible students begin that assessment even before they apply.

From lighthearted lists to serious advice columns, plenty of material resides online to help you weigh the grad school decision. Here are two sites worth visiting:

“Getting Into Graduate School” article from gettingintogradschool.com

“Is Graduate School for You?” article from about.com

Student Reflection & Self-Assessment

4 ideas for building self-evaluation into the learning process

Project-based learning is a student-centered approach to learning, so it is natural to make student self-evaluation an integral part of the process.

Providing time for students to reflect on their work, helps them make connections to previous learning and experience. As Rachel Showalter observes, “students cannot truly improve their product without understanding the content.” Combining this opportunity to deepen learning through reflection with time to self-correct and improve, is an essential step towards meeting standards.

Many educators implementing a PBL or STEM approach use a design process that includes a specific Improve phase that asks students to stop, reflect, and evaluate their work with the intent of returning to the ideation phase to improve upon it.

Asking students to evaluate their strengths, weaknesses, progress, and growth, helps them more deeply understand the causes of their successes and failures and become aware of their learning. This also helps them see more clearly where to focus their energy to have the greatest impact. As they grow their metacognitive skills, students are better able to meet the challenges and thrive in directing their own learning.

Make sure students are clear on standards, learning, and project goals

Before you begin integrating reflection and self-assessment, make sure students have a clear definition or picture of what success looks like. A rubric or checklist can help provide students with criteria they can use to evaluate the success of their work and progress toward academic, personal, and social goals. Successful rubrics and checklists include criteria that provide specific actions students can take to improve their work.

Build in reflection time and procedures for self-assessment

Reflection and student self-assessment require time and are most successful when you add specific procedures for them during the learning process. Work in time for reflection, as well as time to improve their work based on the evaluation.

Here are a few ideas to help you integrate reflection and student self-assessment throughout the process of learning.

Daily Reflection Journals

One of the easiest ways to begin implementing reflection into your classroom is to have students keep a project journal or work log. Provide reflection prompts, or questions, like:

• What new content knowledge did you learn today?
• How did your effort contribute to your success?
• What should you focus on next?

Reflection journals provide artifacts both you and your students can use to see and evaluate growth and progress.

Download a sample Project Reflection page

If journaling seems like it will take too much classroom time, use the last 2 minutes of class for a 3-2-1 exit ticket .

Summative Self-Assessments

In addition to daily journaling, have students complete a summative self-assessment that asks them to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of their product or performance and evaluate their efforts during the development process. You might ask them to reflect on:

• content knowledge gained.
• project management, leadership, and other skills acquired.
• obstacles and how they overcame them.
• conflicts within a team and their resolution.
• personal insights gained from product and process.

Written self-assessments are a natural part of the reflection process after students complete a project or performance. However, providing time to evaluate their work before it is complete, allows students to improve their work and honors that learning is an iterative process.

Peer Review and Feedback

While peer review may not seem like a form of self-evaluation, reviewing the work of others often helps students more clearly see errors and areas for improvement in their own work. Peer reviews that focus on effective writing, design, and communication provide a useful place to start.

Simply have students “turn-and-talk” with a classmate and complete a “warm and cool” form to direct their feedback.

Download a Warm and Cool Feedback sheet page

If students are presenting their work to a small group, provide reviewers with sentence starters to promote critical review and feedback:

• You do a great job of …
• I would love to see more …
• Can you explain …
• What if …

Employing peer reviews during the process with time after for editing, creates a learning culture of growth where students reflect on their work and the work of others and then do the work necessary to improve.

Digital Portfolios

If you want to get serious about integrating student reflection and self-assessment, asking students to craft portfolios of their learning throughout a school year is a must. A learning portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work, combined with reflections about the learning artifacts, that demonstrates student learning and growth over time.

For a portfolio to be a success, students need to be in charge of choosing the work they will include and tasked with explaining via text, audio, or video why it demonstrates growth.

Once again, providing a rubric or similar evaluation criteria will help students choose artifacts of learning and performances that correlate to learning goals, as well as provide a structure for their reflections.

In Conclusion

Reflecting helps students process and organize their learning. As they reflect, students observe how successful they have been during an activity. Then, they work to identify what they learned from their experience.

Combining your formative and summative assessments along with student’s self-reflections and peer reviews can help you paint a clearer picture of student growth and progress.

by Melinda Kolk

Melinda Kolk ( @melindak ) is the Editor of Creative Educator and the author of Teaching with Clay Animation . She has been helping educators implement project-based learning and creative technologies like clay animation into classroom teaching and learning for the past 15 years.

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The Importance of Self-Reflection: How Looking Inward Can Improve Your Mental Health

Sanjana is a health writer and editor. Her work spans various health-related topics, including mental health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness.

Dr. Sabrina Romanoff, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and a professor at Yeshiva University’s clinical psychology doctoral program.

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Why Is Self-Reflection So Important?

When self-reflection becomes unhealthy, how to practice self-reflection, what to do if self-reflection makes you uncomfortable, incorporating self-reflection into your routine.

How well do you know yourself? Do you think about why you do the things you do? Self-reflection is a skill that can help you understand yourself better.

Self-reflection involves being present with yourself and intentionally focusing your attention inward to examine your thoughts, feelings, actions, and motivations, says Angeleena Francis , LMHC, executive director for AMFM Healthcare.

Active self-reflection can help grow your understanding of who you are , what values you believe in, and why you think and act the way you do, says Kristin Wilson , MA, LPC, CCTP, RYT, chief experience officer for Newport Healthcare.

This article explores the benefits and importance of self-reflection, as well as some strategies to help you practice it and incorporate it into your daily life. We also discuss when self-reflection can become unhealthy and suggest some coping strategies.

Self-reflection is important because it helps you form a self-concept and contributes toward self-development.

Builds Your Self-Concept

Self-reflection is critical because it contributes to your self-concept, which is an important part of your identity.

Your self-concept includes your thoughts about your traits, abilities, beliefs, values, roles, and relationships. It plays an influential role in your mood, judgment, and behavioral patterns.

Reflecting inward allows you to know yourself and continue to get to know yourself as you change and develop as a person, says Francis. It helps you understand and strengthen your self-concept as you evolve with time.

Enables Self-Development

Self-reflection also plays a key role in self-development. “It is a required skill for personal growth ,” says Wilson.

Being able to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, or what you did right or wrong, can help you identify areas for growth and improvement, so you can work on them.

For instance, say you gave a presentation at school or work that didn’t go well, despite putting in a lot of work on the project. Spending a little time on self-reflection can help you understand that even though you spent a lot of time working on the project and creating the presentation materials, you didn’t practice giving the presentation. Realizing the problem can help you correct it. So, the next time you have to give a presentation, you can practice it on your colleagues or loved ones first.

Or, say you’ve just broken up with your partner. While it’s easy to blame them for everything that went wrong, self-reflection can help you understand what behaviors of yours contributed to the split. Being mindful of these behaviors can be helpful in other relationships.

Without self-reflection, you would continue to do what you’ve always done and as a result, you may continue to face the same problems you’ve always faced.

Benefits of Self-Reflection

These are some of the benefits of self-reflection, according to the experts:

• Increased self-awareness: Spending time in self-reflection can help build greater self-awareness , says Wilson. Self-awareness is a key component of emotional intelligence. It helps you recognize and understand your own emotions, as well as the impact of your emotions on your thoughts and behaviors.
• Greater sense of control: Self-reflection involves practicing mindfulness and being present with yourself at the moment. This can help you feel more grounded and in control of yourself, says Francis.
• Improved communication skills: Self-reflection can help you improve your communication skills, which can benefit your relationships. Understanding what you’re feeling can help you express yourself clearly, honestly, and empathetically.
• Deeper alignment with core values: Self-reflection can help you understand what you believe in and why. This can help ensure that your words and actions are more aligned with your core values, Wilson explains. It can also help reduce cognitive dissonance , which is the discomfort you may experience when your behavior doesn’t align with your values, says Francis.
• Better decision-making skills: Self-reflection can help you make better decisions for yourself, says Wilson. Understanding yourself better can help you evaluate all your options and how they will impact you with more clarity. This can help you make sound decisions that you’re more comfortable with, says Francis.
• Greater accountability: Self-reflection can help you hold yourself accountable to yourself, says Francis. It can help you evaluate your actions and recognize personal responsibility. It can also help you hold yourself accountable for the goals you’re working toward.

Self-reflection is a healthy practice that is important for mental well-being. However, it can become harmful if it turns into rumination, self-criticism, self-judgment, negative self-talk , and comparison to others, says Wilson.

Here’s what that could look like:

• Rumination: Experiencing excessive and repetitive stressful or negative thoughts. Rumination is often obsessive and interferes with other types of mental activity.
• Self-judgment: Constantly judging yourself and often finding yourself lacking. 
• Negative self-talk: Allowing the voice inside your head to discourage you from doing things you want to do. Negative self-talk is often self-defeating.
• Self-criticism: Constantly criticizing your actions and decisions.
• Comparison: Endlessly comparing yourself to others and feeling inferior.

Kristin Wilson, LPC, CCTP

Looking inward may activate your inner critic, but true self-reflection comes from a place of neutrality and non-judgment.

When anxious thoughts and feelings come up in self-reflection, Wilson says it’s important to practice self-compassion and redirect your focus to actionable insights that can propel your life forward. “We all have faults and room for improvement. Reflect on the behaviors or actions you want to change and take steps to do so.”

It can help to think of what you would say to a friend in a similar situation. For instance, if your friend said they were worried about the status of their job after they gave a presentation that didn’t go well, you would probably be kind to them, tell them not to worry, and to focus on improving their presentation skills in the future. Apply the same compassion to yourself and focus on what you can control.

If you are unable to calm your mind of racing or negative thoughts, Francis recommends seeking support from a trusted person in your life or a mental health professional. “Patterns of negative self-talk, self-doubt , or criticism should be addressed through professional support, as negative cognitions of oneself can lead to symptoms of depression if not resolved.”

Wilson suggests some strategies that can help you practice self-reflection:

• Ask yourself open-ended questions: Start off by asking yourself open-ended questions that will prompt self-reflection, such as: “Am I doing what makes me happy?” “Are there things I’d like to improve about myself?” or “What could I have done differently today?” “Am I taking anything or anyone for granted?” Notice what thoughts and feelings arise within you for each question and then begin to think about why. Be curious about yourself and be open to whatever comes up.
• Keep a journal: Journaling your thoughts and responses to these questions is an excellent vehicle for self-expression. It can be helpful to look back at your responses, read how you handled things in the past, assess the outcome, and look for where you might make changes in the future.
• Try meditation: Meditation can also be a powerful tool for self-reflection and personal growth. Even if it’s only for five minutes, practice sitting in silence and paying attention to what comes up for you. Notice which thoughts are fleeting and which come up more often.
• Process major events and emotions: When something happens in your life that makes you feel especially good or bad, take the time to reflect on what occurred, how it made you feel, and either how you can get to that feeling again or what you might do differently the next time. Writing down your thoughts in a journal can help.
• Make a self-reflection board: Create a self-reflection board of positive attributes that you add to regularly. Celebrate your authentic self and the ways you stay true to who you are. Having a visual representation of self-reflection can be motivating.

You may avoid self-reflection if it brings up difficult emotions and makes you feel uncomfortable, says Francis. She recommends preparing yourself to get comfortable with the uncomfortable before you start.

Think of your time in self-reflection as a safe space within yourself. “Avoid judging yourself while you explore your inner thoughts, feelings, and motives of behavior,” says Francis. Simply notice what comes up and accept it. Instead of focusing on fears, worries, or regrets, try to look for areas of growth and improvement.

“Practice neutrality and self-compassion so that self-reflection is a positive experience that you will want to do regularly,” says Wilson.

Francis suggests some strategies that can help you incorporate self-reflection into your daily routine:

• Dedicate time to it: it’s important to dedicate time to self-reflection and build it into your routine. Find a slot that works for your schedule—it could be five minutes each morning while drinking coffee or 30 minutes sitting outside in nature once per week.
• Pick a quiet spot: It can be hard to focus inward if your environment is busy or chaotic. Choose a calm and quiet space that is free of distractions so you can hear your own thoughts.
• Pay attention to your senses: Pay attention to your senses. Sensory input is an important component of self-awareness.

Nowak A, Vallacher RR, Bartkowski W, Olson L. Integration and expression: The complementary functions of self-reflection . J Pers . 2022;10.1111/jopy.12730. doi:10.1111/jopy.12730

American Psychological Association. Self-concept .

Dishon N, Oldmeadow JA, Critchley C, Kaufman J. The effect of trait self-awareness, self-reflection, and perceptions of choice meaningfulness on indicators of social identity within a decision-making context . Front Psychol . 2017;8:2034. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02034

Drigas AS, Papoutsi C. A new layered model on emotional intelligence . Behav Sci (Basel) . 2018;8(5):45. doi:10.3390/bs8050045

American Psychological Association. Rumination .

By Sanjana Gupta Sanjana is a health writer and editor. Her work spans various health-related topics, including mental health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness.

• Schools & departments

Structure of academic reflections

Guidance on the structure of academic reflections.

Academic reflections or reflective writing completed for assessment often require a clear structure. Contrary to some people’s belief, reflection is not just a personal diary talking about your day and your feelings.

Both the language and the structure are important for academic reflective writing. For the structure you want to mirror an academic essay closely. You want an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion.

Academic reflection will require you to both describe the context, analyse it, and make conclusions. However, there is not one set of rules for the proportion of your reflection that should be spent describing the context, and what proportion should be spent on analysing and concluding. That being said, as learning tends to happen when analysing and synthesising rather than describing, a good rule of thumb is to describe just enough such that the reader understands your context.

Example structure for academic reflections

Below is an example of how you might structure an academic reflection if you were given no other guidance and what each section might contain.  Remember this is only a suggestion and you must consider what is appropriate for the task at hand and for you yourself.

Introduction

Identifies and introduces your experience or learning

• This can be a critical incident
• This can be the reflective prompt you were given
• A particular learning you have gained

When structuring your academic reflections it might make sense to start with what you have learned and then use the main body to evidence that learning, using specific experiences and events. Alternatively, start with the event and build up your argument. This is a question of personal preference – if you aren’t given explicit guidance you can ask the assessor if they have a preference, however both can work.

Highlights why it was important

• This can be suggesting why this event was important for the learning you gained
• This can be why the learning you gained will benefit you or why you appreciate it in your context

You might find that it is not natural to highlight the importance of an event before you have developed your argument for what you gained from it. It can be okay not to explicitly state the importance in the introduction, but leave it to develop throughout your reflection.

Outline key themes that will appear in the reflection (optional – but particularly relevant when answering a reflective prompt or essay)

• This can be an introduction to your argument, introducing the elements that you will explore, or that builds to the learning you have already gained.

This might not make sense if you are reflecting on a particular experience, but is extremely valuable if you are answering a reflective prompt or writing an essay that includes multiple learning points. A type of prompt or question that could particularly benefit from this would be ‘Reflect on how the skills and theory within this course have helped you meet the benchmark statements of your degree’

It can be helpful to explore one theme/learning per paragraph.

Explore experiences

• You should highlight and explore the experience you introduced in the introduction
• If you are building toward answering a reflective prompt, explore each relevant experience.

As reflection is centred around an individual’s personal experience, it is very important to make experiences a main component of reflection. This does not mean that the majority of the reflective piece should be on describing an event – in fact you should only describe enough such that the reader can follow your analysis.

Analyse and synthesise

• You should analyse each of your experiences and from them synthesise new learning

Depending on the requirements of the assessment, you may need to use theoretical literature in your analysis. Theoretical literature is a part of perspective taking which is relevant for reflection, and will happen as a part of your analysis.  

Restate or state your learning

• Make a conclusion based on your analysis and synthesis.
• If you have many themes in your reflection, it can be helpful to restate them here.

Plan for the future

• Highlight and discuss how your new-found learnings will influence your future practice

Answer the question or prompt (if applicable)

• If you are answering an essay question or reflective prompt, make sure that your conclusion provides a succinct response using your main body as evidence.  

Using a reflective model to structure academic reflections

You might recognise that most reflective models mirror this structure; that is why a lot of the reflective models can be really useful to structure reflective assignments. Models are naturally structured to focus on a single experience – if the assignment requires you to focus on multiple experiences, it can be helpful to simply repeat each step of a model for each experience.

One difference between the structure of reflective writing and the structure of models is that sometimes you may choose to present your learning in the introduction of a piece of writing, whereas models (given that they support working through the reflective process) will have learning appearing at later stages.

However, generally structuring a piece of academic writing around a reflective model will ensure that it involves the correct components, reads coherently and logically, as well as having an appropriate structure.

Reflective journals/diaries/blogs and other pieces of assessed reflection

The example structure above works particularly well for formal assignments such as reflective essays and reports.  Reflective journal/blogs and other pieces of assessed reflections tend to be less formal both in language and structure, however you can easily adapt the structure for journals and other reflective assignments if you find that helpful.

That is, if you are asked to produce a reflective journal with multiple entries it will most often (always check with the person who issued the assignment) be a successful journal if each entry mirrors the structure above and the language highlighted in the section on academic language. However, often you can be less concerned with form when producing reflective journals/diaries.

When producing reflective journals, it is often okay to include your original reflection as long as you are comfortable with sharing the content with others, and that the information included is not too personal for an assessor to read.

Developed from:

Ryan, M., 2011. Improving reflective writing in higher education: a social semiotic perspective. Teaching in Higher Education, 16(1), 99-111.

University of Portsmouth, Department for Curriculum and Quality Enhancement (date unavailable). Reflective Writing: a basic introduction [online].  Portsmouth: University of Portsmouth.

Queen Margaret University, Effective Learning Service (date unavailable).  Reflection. [online].  Edinburgh: Queen Margaret University.

U21 Self Reflection Toolkit

Self-reflection is about learning from or ‘making sense’ of experiences, student toolkit, facilitator toolkit, alumni toolkit.

• How do I self-reflect?
• Understanding my employability
• Why reflect on experiences?
• What do I do with this reflection?

What should I reflect on?

The first decision to make is ‘what experience or part of an experience should I reflect on’ ?

The process begins with considering a particular experience and then identifying activities, events, incidents, tasks or situations that occurred as part of that experience. Essentially, you are identifying something that has happened to you, or you were involved in, that could be a learning opportunity. Once you have pinpointed a particular incident or challenging situation you can then go on to consider how you have developed and what you can now do – or do better – as a result.

What counts as a learning opportunity ?

If you’re wondering what  ‘counts’ as a learning opportunity , think of it like this: If you felt like you were pushed even slightly out of your comfort zone, or you weren’t sure how to handle a situation, then the experience is likely to be a chance for learning. If you were motivated to take action of some kind, then it was definitely a learning opportunity.

Think about situations that had an impact on you.

Was the situation new or challenging?

Were you motivated to take action?

This is a learning opportunity!

We tend to think of our experiences in general terms such as:

• Casual job at the bookstore
• Being a mentor for new students
• Taking part in a hackathon or pitching competition
• Volunteering at the local animal shelter
• Engaging in representative level sport
• President of a student association

However, each of these examples is actually made up of many situations, activities, incidents and tasks that may have pushed you outside your comfort zone and therefore may be learning opportunities.

In fact, it is often substantially easier to reflect on one of these smaller instances or situations than to try to reflect on the more general overall experience.

• Name a general experience that you have been involved in over the last 12 months. E.g. Engaged in a research project over the summer break.
• Met with my research supervisor to determine the work to be done;
• Embarked on data collection;
• Worked with the research team to analyse the data;
• Prepared a report on the findings;
• Presented the report to supervisor and colleagues.
• Review this list. Were any of these ‘parts’ of the experience new or challenging for you or pushed you outside your comfort zone?  Which ones?

If you answer YES then the particular part of the experience that pushed you outside your comfort zone is a potential learning opportunity and could be reflected on to determine if any employability development occurred.

Learning opportunity examples

You are the president of your student club and you are having trouble with people not volunteering for fundraising activities. This is really frustrating for you and you realise that the club won’t function if you can’t get volunteers. You are motivated to solve this problem and you end up introducing an incentive scheme.

Was this a learning opportunity? YES! It had an impact on you and you were motivated to take action.

This situation could still be a learning opportunity even if you failed to take action but recognised in hindsight that you should have.

If we take the broad experiences mentioned earlier, here are some possible learning experiences from each of them:

• Casual job at the bookstore > > dealing with a difficult customer
• Being a mentor for new students > > trying to draw out a student who is reluctant to engage
• Taking part in a hackathon or pitching competition > > Pitching your idea in front of strangers
• Volunteering at the local animal shelter > > keeping emotions in check when faced with cruelty
• Engaging in representative level sport > > being unsuccessful at a major event
• President of a student association > > developing a member engagement strategy

If you are in a situation and you feel uncomfortable or you are finding something difficult – flag that moment!  That is something that is a potential learning opportunity for you.

Write down 4 experiences that you have had in the last 12 months and identify one potential learning opportunity for each.

Reflective writing

The key to good reflective writing is to  move beyond just describing  what happened. You do need to do some describing, in order to provide some context for your learning, but the writing isn’t reflective if you haven’t considered  why things happened and what the consequences were, and what you have learned from a particular experience. 

Reflective writing is a personal account.  When writing self-reflection,  use personal pronouns  ( I, we ) and concentrate on what  you  think about the situation, even if that involves considering the actions of others and how they may inform the way you might do things differently in the future. You are  contemplating an experience  rather than arguing a particular view and justifying it with evidence. 

Self-awareness  is a key part of self-reflection as you need to know yourself and why you behaved the way you did. Self-awareness is also important for employability as it allows you to  monitor  your behaviour and attitudes and  adjust  according to the context and the requirements of the task at hand. It also helps you better cope with constructive criticism and learn from your mistakes.

Here is a summary of the key characteristics of good reflective writing:

• Think about what happened in a given situation – describe what happened but also think about  why things happened the way they did,  what you might do differently  in the future, and  what you learned.
• There is no right or wrong answer – it is what YOU got out of an experience
• Remember the ‘ so what ’ factor – don’t just describe what happened but evaluate what it all means and how and why it is important for your development.
• Be honest – it’s OK to admit to your successes and your mistakes. The important thing is to demonstrate that you understand why things happened and what you did or can do to improve.
• Be selective – you don’t have to write about every little detail of what happened, just the key events or ideas.
• Look to the future – it is vital that you consider what happened in the past and how it will have an impact on the way you think or behave in the future.

Take a look at this example of good reflective writing .

Self-reflective models

Once you have identified what you want to reflect on you may be asking yourself – what do I do now?

There are many well-known models of self-reflection, some of which you may have encountered as part of your studies.  These models provide prompts or questions to guide your reflection and to enable deeper consideration of a particular experience or situation, or to direct your reflection in a way that will lead to a better understanding of your behaviour in a particular context.

It is also possible to engage in free-form self-reflection where you are reflecting on a situation or experience with no particular structure.

The University of Edinburgh reflection website provides a useful list of reflective tools and models.

Over years of supporting students to self-reflect for employability development at The University of Queensland, we found that many students appreciate a simple self-reflective structure to guide them through the process, so we developed a particular model of self-reflection for employability development intentionally designed to uncover specific learning relating to employability – SEAL. 

SEAL process of self-reflection

The SEAL process of self-reflection, as shown below, helps you to unpack a particular learning opportunity in order to understand the employability development that has occurred.

As with all self-reflection, there is no right or wrong answer – it is what you personally got out of an experience.  

Through this self-reflection, you will better understand how your experiences can develop the attitudes and behaviours that enable effective performance in work environments.

As you progress through your career, you can and should continue to self-reflect on your experiences and use this learning to improve workplace performance and to guide your career journey.

What happened during the event, incident, activity, or task?

What were the new experiences you had to deal with or the challenges faced, and what impact did they have on you?

What did you learn from it -- what can you now do as a result and what do you need to do to handle a similar situation again in the future? How has the experience added to the ones you have already had in terms of your development?

Read through some of the SEAL examples provided here to see how other students have used the process to structure their reflections.

Your turn to do SEAL.

• Select the learning opportunity that you would like to reflect on  (you might like to use one of those that you listed in a previous exercise)
• Work through the self-reflective process using the SEAL worksheet , writing out your responses.

Identifying capability development through your reflection

The next step is to consider the learning from your experiences in terms of  specific competencies, capabilities or attributes  that you may have developed as a result of your experiences and your self-reflection on them.

To help with this process of identifying capabilities and attributes from your reflection it can be helpful to consider employer expectations in your preferred career or discipline area.  

We prefer to use the term capabilities rather than skills, however when identifying what you have learned from an experience using SEAL, it makes sense to use the language of employers, and that means talking about ‘skills’ as well as personal qualities. Thinking about your learning as skills (and personal qualities) helps you connect it to the things that employers value and that are found on selection criteria for positions.

The L is the most important part of the SEAL self-reflective process, as it is where we can see what development has been gained from the situation.   

• Look back at the self-reflection that you wrote in the last section.  In particular, re-read your ‘L’ of SEAL .
• Highlight or list out the capabilities that you have identified.
• Can you see words or phrases that indicate that you have drawn on a particular ability or personal quality to manage the situation?
• Have you used any words that link back to employer expectations in your field?
• What do you think that you can now do as a result of dealing with this challenging situation?

Example of SEAL capability development:

I learned that I sometimes have problems with nerves when communicating in stressful situations and that planning out what I am going to say and trying to anticipate responses helps me settle those nerves and feel more confident about communicating effectively and professionally.  I would use this strategy again in the future when preparing for important meetings or presentations.

On the surface, the student has definitely improved her communication skills as a result of the learning from her experience in the summer research project.  But if you look more closely at her reflection, you can see that in devising a script to deal with her nerves, she has developed problem-solving skills , she took initiative to try to address her nerves, and her confidence has improved.  She is also able to plan a communication event to anticipate responses which shows that she is proactive .

• Should I use reflection in my activity?
• Preparing students for reflection
• Engaging in reflection
• Review or assessment of reflections
• Making the employability connection
• Reflecting as a professional
• How do I self-reflect as a professional?
• What do I do with my professional reflection?

A collaboration between U21 and UQ

Contact info.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Self Reflection — Self-Reflection On My Experiences Working In A Group

A Reflection on My Experience Working in a Group

• Categories: Self Reflection

About this sample

Words: 464 |

Published: Nov 8, 2019

Words: 464 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Works Cited

• Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (2009). An educational psychology success story: Social interdependence theory and cooperative learning. Educational researcher, 38(5), 365-379.
• Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological bulletin, 63(6), 384-399.
• Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (2005). The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance organization. Harvard Business Review Press.
• Hackman, J. R. (2002). Leading teams: Setting the stage for great performances. Harvard Business Press.
• Lencioni, P. (2012). The advantage: Why organizational health trumps everything else in business. Jossey-Bass.
• Fisher, R., Ury, W., & Patton, B. (2011). Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in. Penguin.
• Belbin, R. M. (2012). Team roles at work. Routledge.
• Charkoudian, L., & Moore, W. (2017). Building a strong team culture in a healthcare setting. Journal of Healthcare Leadership , 9, 9-20.
• Belbin, M. (2016). Team Roles and Team Performance: Is there “really” a link?. International Journal of Management & Business Studies, 6(2), 47-58.
• Smith, G. D. (2018). Effective Teamwork: Practical Lessons from Organizational Research. John Wiley & Sons.

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