Happy New Year! The season when our timelines are overloaded with videos and posts about the goals for 2023. As a therapist and entrepreneur, I’m here for it. Here’s my only rant; I wish all entrepreneurs did this year round. Self-reflection is likely the single most important thing you do that impacts the success of your business and mental health. When there’s research to back it up and several of the world’s most successful people (like Oprah and Warren Buffet) make time to do it, this might be the underrated cheat code.
Entrepreneur life is a special kind of chaos. The constant flow of information in and out can create feelings of overwhelm, stress and left unchecked, anxiety, depression or burnout. For myself, it was the first time I struggled with anxiety and panic attacks. And the truth is, I wasn’t alone. A whopping 72% of entrepreneurs report mental health issues, compared to 48% of non-entrepreneurs. . Self-reflection is the practice of slowing down (even for 5 minutes) to gather your thoughts, process and reflect, identify patterns/trends to develop insights or solutions. Asking yourself questions like “what led to this outcome/decision?”, “what can I do differently?” or “what can I learn from this?” are impactful to a leader. Here are 3 benefits of self-reflection that can help you keep growing your business and managing your mental wellness along the way.
Self-Reflection Enhances Learning
The learning curve in entrepreneurship is often a steep one. There’s marketing, finances, legal, and business information being thrown at you. You sign up for workshops, seminars and masterclasses to fill in gaps but sometimes it leaves you feeling overwhelmed and more confused than before. The problem is we consume information rather than digest it. One suggestion is to practice self-reflection after learning new skills as this brings greater mastery than just repeating the same behavior. This article in 2016 further adds, it is the “improved understanding of the task [that will] drive the actual performance increases”. The process of self-reflection blends theory and practice, leading to improved learning, application and ultimately performance.
Self-Reflection Improves Decision Making
The number of decisions you will make as a business owner are endless. Whether big or small, they cumulatively will impact the success of your business. Being prepared to make good decisions is an important responsibility that impacts you, employees, and customers. Self-reflection supports decision-making as you assess current patterns, identify what worked and take accountability for what didn’t. As you build awareness of the factors which most influence your choices, this article found it to provide greater consistency in the decision-making process.
Self-Reflection Builds Confidence
Entrepreneurship constantly calls for the expansion of your comfort zone. Whether it’s new skills, terminology, or experiences you won’t KNOW it all. Mix that with our human tendencies for comparison and aversion to insecurity and the uncertainty, and it chips away at your confidence. Even Entrepreneur magazine recently listed the fear of not being good enough as a fear all entrepreneurs face. Self-reflection encourages praising yourself when things are going right and taking accountability for when things go left (and trust me they will). Knowing your strengths and compensating for weaknesses (through hiring or outsourcing) will improve efficiency and the quality of your service/product.
In the end…
The benefits of self-reflection all feed off of each other. Feeling knowledgeable supports your ability to make clear, strong decisions and this builds confidence in your strengths as an entrepreneur. All of which helps you feel, look and act like the BOSS entrepreneur you are. If you liked this article or have comments, be sure to leave it below.
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