You might have noticed that so far I haven’t mentioned the role of reflection in learning. And that’s probably because reflection is one of the most underused aspects of learning. It’s easy to practice something and just assume that you will learn, but without reflection, it’s unlikely you will be able to refine what you do in a way that takes you to the next level. It’s only through reflection that we can learn from our experiences. It’s only through reflection that we can evaluate whether our learning is having the desired impact. And it’s only through reflection that we can get the most out of the effort we are putting into our learning.
By reflecting on what you do, you start to understand cause and effect. You start to see how your efforts impact your results. This can help you to be more mindful about the things that you need to work on the next time. And the next. And the next. You can use reflection to evaluate how well you did against your plan and to start identifying what you can improve on the next time. As you keep repeating the cycle of practice and reflection, you will find that your results get better and better. You will find that you start to anticipate how you can improve before you even start. And you will find that you develop a sense of mastery that you never thought possible.
Reflection is also important because it can help you manage your emotional state as you learn. If you have ever tried to learn something new, you will know that there are times when you feel frustrated. You will know that there are times when you feel like giving up. And you will know that there are times when you feel like you just aren’t getting it. By reflecting on these feelings, you can start to do something about them. You can start to identify why you feel the way you do and you can start to think about what you can do differently the next time. Reflection can help you to stay calm, even when you feel like you are failing.
One of the things that I love about reflection is that it enables you to take responsibility for your own learning. You don’t need anyone to tell you how well you are doing because you will know. You don’t need anyone to evaluate you because you will be able to evaluate yourself. And you don’t need anyone to tell you what to improve on because you will already know. By using reflection to guide your learning, you can develop a sense of autonomy that is impossible if you are relying on others to tell you how you are going. And as you reflect on your progress, you will start to feel a sense of pride and satisfaction in what you have achieved.
Finally, reflection is what enables learning to be continuous. It’s what enables you to keep pushing yourself to be better. And it’s what enables you to keep developing your skills long after other people have given up. The more you practice reflection, the more you will see that learning isn’t something that you do in order to achieve a goal. Instead, it’s something that you do because it helps you to grow. It’s something that you do because it helps you to develop. And it’s something that you do because it helps you to become the person you know you can be.