Self-Reflection Questions for a Resilient Mindset

Last fortnight we shared our thoughts on resilience strategies in ‘Resilience: Bouncing Forwards and Back’. One of these included building time into your day for reflection. Here we look at why self-reflection is important and some reflective questions to help you build a resilient mindset.

Why is self-reflection important?

It can help you to consider setbacks in a broader context and keep a long-term perspective.
It helps to ensure that you are taking actions that are sound and not simply running on “auto pilot.”
It can help you learn from your experience to avoid the trap of simply repeating things that aren’t working.
It can help you focus on what is important in your life.
It allows you to notice your habitual ways of responding to people and events so that you have the option of approaching things differently.

Shamash Alidina shares ‘5 Ways to Build Resilience Every Day’ via Mindful.Org which includes nurturing relationships, finding meaning in difficulties and being optimistic.

Through our work at CFCD to build resilience we find in addition some people incorporate self-reflection into their daily routine by keeping a journal, practicing mindfulness meditation, doing yoga or Tai chi or being in nature. Whatever type of ritual you choose to here are some questions to reflect on to help you build a resilient mindset.

What can I do to make myself more aware of my own thinking and emotions?
What was going on for me when XX was happening?
What did I want to happen today?
What went well?
What did not go the way it was intended?
What did I learn?
What will I do differently next time?
What do I need to let go of in order to move on?

For those interested on reading more on this subject we recommend reading ‘How People Learn to Increase Their Resilience’.

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