Scratch #7, A good way to start 2019!

An effective way to visit the past without staying there:  Simple Reflection!

For those of us that try to live in the present, it is helpful to know of a tool and a process that permit visitation to the past without the added myre of permenantly staying there. The Tool is any kind of spiral notebook, and the Process is a three question reflection model. No fancy names, just good outcomes.

Research tells us that regular reflection not only boosts our brain’s ability to remain present, but also enhances its capacity for retention and resourcefulness. We know that a regular 10 minute visit to yesterday allows us to live and perform better today as well as better prepare  for tomorrow and beyond. There are three simple questions that we should learn to consitently ask ourselves at the end of each day, and we will get to those in just a few words, but before we go there, we need to look at a couple of traps that might lure us into difficulty as we begin this process:

• Staying in the past longer than we should because we wish it were different or we somehow know could have done better. Like the missed shot or the scorched soup.
• Beating ourselves up because of our humanness and the mistakes we, along with everyone else, will make or have already made. Stuff really does happen, as we all know.

So as your are now wading through early 2019, use this simple 3 question model to look back and prepare for the first tomorrows of the year. Get started in this way.

First head to a comfortable place both mentally and physically with a spiral notebook of some sort. Pads do not work well because we have a tendency to tear off the sheets after we write on them, plus a notebook is a functional “thought box” that can go wherever you go.

Next, sit and breathe for a couple of minutes. Now choose a relevant reflective time frame, most folks pick the last 24 hours. I suggest starting small, so 24 hours is plenty to look back on. Twelve would work, too.

Now write down the first of three questions:

What happened? Then answer that question looking back over the last 24 hours as if you were describing it to a good friend.

Next, write down and answer question # 2, So what? Here you can talk about the “why” of what happened and what you saw as significant or important. Keep this process simple and say what comes to mind as you think.

Finally, write down and answer question # 3, Now what? Here we get to work on conclusions, discoveries, learning and next steps (for tomorrow and beyond). Again, stay in the simple lane and just talk to yourself about yourself and what happened to you in the last 24 hours.

Then put your journal away and go about your business until journaling time tomorrow. There we will add just one extra step. Before journaling again tomorrow, be sure and read what you wrote today and let it sift inside your head before starting to reflect again.. Then your next conversation will have more meaning. Good luck on this new reflective adventure.

Mt