Why It's Important to Stop and Reflect

The Poet (French: Le Penseur) is a bronze and

marble sculpture by Auguste Rodin held in the

Musée Rodin in Paris . It depicts a man in sober

meditation battling with a powerful internal
struggle. It is often used to represent philosophy.

There is this poem: "What is this life if, full of care, We
have no time to stand and stare?"

We are all in such a rush to get to our next destination we

have no time to stop and reflect on where we have been and

what we have done. There always the fear that if we stop the

others who keep on going will overtake us and we will be left

behind in life's race.

But suppose we could do even better with less need to rush

along?

Reflection is a huge part of the learning process.

And the more knowledge you have and apply, the more power

you wield. This knowledge may provide you a way to stop

rushing along with the others and find a simpler method of

achieving success without the need to always keep running.

All our lives are lived in stages. We were infants who learn

observing how others behave. Then we go to school where a

formal system of teaching us begins and continues for twelve

years. Some of us go on to the university for another few years

before working. Our working lives too are a series of stages,

with one promotion and change of work after another, until

most of us retire. In each stage we do the best we can with the

tools and knowledge at our disposal. But we could have more

and be better equipped.

Hindsight has a very negative connotation. But if can

also be used for good. Taking time to reflect on things that

happened in the past using the hindsight of the knowledge

and experience you have gained since then, will often show you

ways in which you could have improved you performance in the

past. So what good does that do you now?

Well, consider someone learning to bake for the first time.

Whatever the results may have been, good or bad, looking

back after a few years of baking experience behind him will

allow our chef to see ways that in which he could have

produced a better cake that time.

Now suppose he did this exercise after his second baking

attempt. The second attempt will be better than the first,

because he would have learned more. But if he had
reflected in detail on the first attempt, he may have found

still more areas for improvement than the obvious ones he

picked up on. The third cake will not just be an improvement

on the second but will be the result of all that he has learned

from his previous experiences.

This will not only help him to do better, but will give
him the confidence to think of ways to reduce the work

involved and make things easier for himself. In other

words, a way out of the race to keep up.

You need not always reflect alone. Sitting with other

to analyze the past means more minds focused on the issue

which will result in a great understanding of what you

need to do in the future. The more minds shining their

light on a past situation, the more light the past will shed

on the present.

Reflection does not mean looking back and

beating yourself up for the mistakes you made or the

opportunities you let slip through your fingers.

Those have all long since been lost in the mists of time

and there's nothing you can do to bring them back. But

being able to look back and use the knowledge you have

acquired since then to understand how you can improve

today is the base of future success.

Think about it.

QUOTE OF THE POST

"A wise man gives thought to his ways.." - Proverbs