Career - The importance of self-reflection

There are many different facets of seeking career advice. It’s an all-encompassing topic because a person’s career is interwoven with their life. See the sample list that follows:

Determining goals
Managing the work-life balance
Recognizing signs of burnout
Identifying strengths and doubling down on them
Identifying weaknesses and improving at them
Managing imposter syndrome
Identifying opportunities for growth
Understanding when to ask for help
Understanding when to escalate a situation and when to ignore
Determining optimal working environments and team size
Navigating job changes

An interesting note across all of these is having an understanding of the current situation and recognizing that a change is needed. The key to this is self-reflection. There are several guides out there on the web¹. I use a combination of introspective writing and scheduling quarterly events on my calendar to help me stay consistent with this practice.

Regularly taking the time to look at yourself, see how you’re feeling, see where you are, and review your situation, all in a non-judgmental way, can help tremendously. Self-awareness is the logical first step to finding happiness and contentment. If you’re not sure where you are and who you are, it’s significantly more difficult to evaluate an opportunity. This doesn’t mean you need to have reached enlightenment either. It’s more of, can you answer what about your current situation makes you feel happy/sad/angry, and what do you think would make you feel differently? It sounds simple, but it requires practice. So get started.

If you are struggling with depression, anxiety, or other mental health challenges, please reach out to a licensed mental health counselor.

Go search for “self-reflection” and see how many guides pop up. It’s wild. ↩