Category: The Power Of Reflection

I find myself writing about similar topics often.

That’s because there are certain topics I think about often.

And for those who are trying to do more writing and get turned off by the idea of writing similar things on similar topics time and again… think about it like this:

Writing isn’t just about the end product—the piece you ship, share, or hide. Writing is about the reflecting, the searching for the words, the act of trying to understand what it is you think about a thing—whatever it is you care enough to think and write about.

And to spend time bringing clarity to topics you tend to think most often about? The ones you can’t help but return to time and again? The ones you wrote about years ago and find yourself circling back to all this time later? …Is no waste of effort.

In fact, it’s a sign of a greater investment being made.

Because thoughts shape actions and actions shape lives… and writing clarifies thoughts which clarifies actions for a more deliberate life. And bringing (increasing) clarity to topics you tend to think most often about will likely have the greatest impact on your future actions and life path—wouldn’t you say?

Now quit using redundancy as an excuse and get back to it.

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P.s. Yesterday, MoveMe Quotes was down for most of the day. It’s back up and running. Thank you to those who reached out to let me know.

There have been several instances lately where I’ve wanted to say something, taken a deliberate pause instead, ended up not saying or changing what I was going to say, and have felt curiously grateful as a result.

If there’s anything I’ve learned from writing as much as I have, it’s that the thought almost always improves with some space and additional thought. And now I’m learning how real that is for speaking, too.

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P.s. In case you missed it, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.

Before you start mega-phoning your New Year’s resolutions and lining up at your January 1st start line to sprint towards a new reality… it’s imperative you take a look back.

How did things play out for you from 2022? 2021? 2020? Etc. Can you dig up a record (or three) of what your goals and action strategies were from then? How they played out? What you were experiencing as you went?

This exploration will give you trends and insight that could be essential to playing out 2023 differently… more strategically… better.

Side note: if you don’t have a record like this, and you think having a record like this now would be valuable, maybe it’s something you could start this year?

Main train: One of the first quotes that I remember feeling deeply impacted by, as cliché as it sounds to me now, was: “If you keep on doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve been getting.”

History may not repeat itself exactly—but, have no doubt: history rhymes.

And 2023 will rhyme with all of your other years and resolution attempts.

So, don’t forget to look back before you floor it forward. You might learn something about yourself that’ll impact your pace, direction, ambition, accountability, strategy, etc. that you hadn’t quite internalized before.

And maybe it’s that one realization that’ll actually make 2023 your best year ever.

Remember this: the only time you DON’T grow from what happens in life is when you DON’T reflect.

Mindlessly moving from one experience to the next is what leads to repeated mistakes, cyclical thinking, and stagnation.

Which means, if reflection is in your life… regardless of the hardships, trials, and challenges… you can, at minimum, count on the fact that you’re steady growing with every happening as a result.

And if you can put trust in your growth (which you should), you can also count on the fact that you’ll eventually outgrow your current hardships, trials, and challenges (which is how it works).

…And they won’t, in fact, be an unending source of pain and suffering in your life.

Each of these situations, too, shall pass (in proportion to the quality of your reflections)—believe it.

Remember this, when you say you don’t have time for reflection in your “busy” life.

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P.s. Everyone who says you should never look back is wrong.

Sometimes we come across content that makes us pause, nod, and even talk out loud.

Whenever that happens, it’s a sign of resonance.

And when something resonates with you, the reason why isn’t always obvious.

Sometimes, sure, it resonates because it just plain makes sense and you agree.

But, other times, it might be more than that.

Other times, it might be resonating from a chord that was struck deeper inside of you.

And in this case, using that content as a means to do some inner exploration can yield tremendous insights.

Insights that help you better understand why you think and act the way you do.

Insights that have the potential to shift the direction of your life when they’re realized from a deep enough place.

But, if all you ever do when you pause, nod, and talk to yourself is keep scrolling… you’ll forget. And the resonance will fade.

And what a shame that would be for your future self. The one that’s depending on you to take care of them.

What if instead, we made space each day to explore the things that resonated with us—in both the good ways and the bad.

Because there are (should) be things each day that strike our chords (if not, you need to subscribe to more interesting content).

What I have found to be true sometimes is, the more time I have to think about it… the deeper the reasons why might be buried.

So be patient. Relentlessly block out distractions and potential interruptions. And dig.

This work is too important. This work is too often overlooked. This work is the work of the wise.