Reflect on Your Journey Before You Move Forward
You’ve been through a lot. All the pain and suffering. All the good and happy. All the in between and normal days. All of that, good, bad, or indifferent, has brought you to this place. A place where you get to choose what’s next.
Recognize What Got You Here
You built this life. Through all of your decisions and all those things that were thrust upon you whether you wanted them or not, YOU MADE IT THROUGH. You navigated through all the twists and turns, ups and downs, and built the skills to move forward to today.
That is not to be dismissed. It is to be applauded. All those things, good and bad, molded you into the amazing human you are today and gave you the skills to further. As you stand on the precipice of your future life, it’s time to appreciate and acknowledge all that you’ve done and gone through.
This is the foundation for where you’re going. Each piece of knowledge and experience will carry you forward. They will tell you what you no longer want in your life and what you want to discover.
Use the Past to Navigate the Future
By allowing yourself to remember and use your past accomplishments, you will be able to navigate your future path with confidence. Not necessarily the confidence in the new skills that you will learn, but the confidence that you WILL make it through. You know just how to navigate your own emotions, fears, and past experiences to serve you for the best.
These reflections center you along your path, direct you as you move forward, and allow you to see obstacles and take care of them before they become huge boulders along the way.
Zoom Out and Adjust the Map
Reflection also gives you the time to step back from the day-to-day and look at the bigger picture to make sure you’re on the right track. When you spend too much time on the minutia, you can get lost in the woods. By stepping back and taking a bird’s eye view of your life, you can see where the trail ends and make sure you’re still on the path. 😉
This is especially important when you’re starting out on a new trek. One journey has completed, and the next is awaiting you to make the first move. Just like in chess, think of the game you want to play, where do you want to take all the players, including yourself?
Map it out in general, because you know that any good adventure will have its twists and turns. Prepare for all you can foresee and have a plan for when the shift hits the fan. 🤣 As Winston Churchill once said, “Those who plan do better than those who do not plan, even should they rarely stick to their plan.”
So, take some time to sit and reflect on all you have done and experienced. Pay attention to not just the big things, but the little things along the way. Another Churchill quote, “One is quite astonished to find how many things there are in the landscape, and in every object in it, one never noticed before.”
Your life is the landscape, what haven’t you noticed before? Notice it now and realize that all of it makes up you, your life, and your wealth of knowledge and experience. Bring all of that to your next endeavor and you can’t help but succeed.
Before you step fully into what’s next, take time to acknowledge what brought you here. Every small step, every pivot, every detour made you who you are. The best way to ground yourself in this new phase of life is to reflect, review, and recognize how much you’ve already done.
My Accomplishment Record Template is the perfect companion for this. Use it to track what you've done each day, week, and month, so you can clearly see your growth and momentum over time. Download it now and start building from the strongest foundation you have, your own experience.