Purposeful Reflection

by Ray Reuter on December 5, 2013

“Adults don’t learn by doing, they learn by reflecting on what they have done.”
–Education Reformer and Philosopher, John Dewey

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailI enjoy the process of planning and setting goals and working on My Perfect Year. And a critical component of that process is reflection. In the desire to look ahead, I believe one must first look back. Notice in the quote that John Dewey is not saying reflection is the only act. It requires ‘having done’ something. Reflection drives learning. Reflection with the purpose of learning implies you want to get better, improve, tap into your best self. And from that place, goal setting is strengthened.

Below are several reflection questions to jump start your learning from this year …

  • What did I learn (skills, knowledge, awareness, lessons, etc.)?
  • What did I accomplish / achieve?
  • What would I have done differently? Why?
  • What did I complete / release? What still feels incomplete?
  • What were the most significant events (list top 3)?
  • What did I do right? What do I feel especially good about? What was my greatest contribution? What am I proud of?
  • What were the fun things I did? What were the not-so-fun?
  • What were my biggest challenges, roadblocks, difficulties? How did you face them?
  • How am I different?
  • For what am I particularly grateful?

Feel free to share your significant learnings in the comment section below.

{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

Jack October 28, 2015 at 2:48 pm

Hi Andrew,Thanks for sharing again and brninigg other folks into the conversation! You certainly have great context here and it sounds like there’s some excellent energy around your lean launch in Bogota. Of course, you’re probably a pretty darn good lean coach as well!Yes, envisioning the ideal future state (I coach the team to a future state for a targeted date and typically do not do the ideal thing but it is often helpful to do both. Ideal first, then future state with targeted implementation date.) together is extremely powerful and I did not give it the billing that it deserves in the post. If we don’t get to a future state and a related improvement plan, our efforts end in a, So what? As in, Nice map. Is that it? As usual, great insights, Andrew.Best regards,Mark

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