The Art Of Even More Self Reflection
7 More Methods of Self-Reflection
I’m back again with more self-reflection methods for everyday life!
Feedback From Others – We have biases and knowledge gaps that we’re not aware of. Other people in a group can help plug those biases and gaps for the overall group. If you look at somebody and they think differently from you, or they process things in a different way, talk to them and most importantly, learn from them. Our differences should be celebrated, and learning from others can help us reflect on our own actions, thoughts, and emotions. It also helps us plug those knowledge gaps and biases.
Personality Assessments – Many people have heard of Myers-Briggs. If not, it’s a personality test that categorizes you by four main elements, with each element attributing one of two options to you. You can either be:
Introverted (I) or Extroverted (E)
Sensor (S) or Intuitive (N)
Thinker (T) or Feeler (F)
Judger (J) or Perceiver (P)
One of my favourites is the 16 Personalities website.
The last time I completed the test in March 2022, I was an INFJ-A. Has anybody found themself changed on the Myers-Briggs test? This is something I’ve always been interested in.
Being an INFJ-A means I’m an introvert (76%), I’m intuitive rather than a sensor (54%), a feeler rather than a thinker (60%), and a judger rather than a perceiver (81%). The A refers to assertiveness.
The description is as follows: INFJs “tend to approach life with deep thoughtfulness and imagination. Their inner vision, personal values, and a quiet, principled version of humanism guide them in all things.”
The personality test allows us to better understand ourselves and our strengths to leverage further. It has also helped me to recognise when fear in my life might arise when I push against aspects of life that don’t come as naturally to me, such as socialising. Whenever this fear and discomfort arises, over a long period of time I’ve trained myself to attack it. I often find I feel better afterwards since INFJs are growth-orientated and ambitious.
Find out your own personality type at the 16 Personalities website. The link is above. Afterwards, reflect on what the response tells you. Are you heading in a direction in life where your personality type will be fulfilled?
Exercise – Another example of short-term pain for long-term gain. Cultivating our relationship with pain allows acceptance of pain as a natural part of life. One of the easiest ways to do this is exercise. Exercise allows the connection of the body and the mind, while also reducing stress for a clearer head to reflect.
Talk To Yourself – If you’ve worked to understand yourself, sometimes you can answer your own questions. You only need to think about it more purposefully. Sit quietly and ponder what you’re struggling with. You might find the solutions are there in your own head. Plus, I’ve heard talking to yourself is a sign of intelligence, or that’s what I tell myself whenever anybody catches me doing it.
Flow – Sometimes, I play video games. I’m very aware that video games ultimately can distract us from work, hence why we have to properly balance work and play. From time to time, however, I enjoy diving into a virtual world.
I bought a game called Terra Invicta yesterday. Essentially the world is being slowly invaded by aliens and you join one of eight factions that approach the problem differently. You then work as a puppet master of Earth against or in alliance with the other factions, to fight against or work with the aliens. You do this through international relations. You can perform a public campaign to boost sentiment for your organisation, or attempt to purge a territory under the control of another faction you wish to control. Each nation has its own unique characteristics. For example, Germany is an economic powerhouse, and France is the leader of the European Union in the game, so any EU decisions mean you have to control France in your faction. It’s wonderfully in-depth. The long-term aim of the game is the survival of humanity through the industrialization of the Solar System and beyond. In short, it’s very aligned with what I write about over on Geopolitics Explained and explores potential narratives we could see unfold over our lifetimes.
Playing this game, I found hours flying by unknown. The same thing happens when I’m writing. This is called the flow state. When you find it, take note.
If you’re doing work and you find a flow state, this is a sign that this work and your purpose could be closely aligned. This is something you should self-reflect on to a deeper level.
If you’re playing and you find flow as I did, take note that this is fun whenever a period of fun arises. But it should be controlled. Otherwise, we risk falling victim to it when we should be doing work. Scheduling can help this. I allow one hour a day of video game or television time before 6 pm. After 6 pm I have no obligations to do anything as we have to switch our brains off sometimes. This is the time for fun, rest and recuperation. The difference between this and work is a vital one.
Self-Compassion – Nobody’s perfect. We can often be overwhelmed by our lack of perfection, and we can feel ourselves pulled in countless directions. Instead of striving for unattainable perfection, focus on the more realistic art of self-forgiveness. We all make mistakes. If we seek perfection, we get angry at ourselves for these mistakes. If we seek self-compassion, we cut ourselves some slack and seek to understand these mistakes. From this, we’re more likely to reflect on these mistakes and eventually remove them. A process that can aid self-compassion is negative thought reframing. If you have a negative situation or thought, repaint this in a more positive light. As a result, you’ll also find you’re more resilient to setbacks and handle perfectionism better.
Track Mood – Every day, I rate my mood out of 10. It helped me to understand a few things. Firstly, I feel better when I achieve what I set out to do that day. I feel better when I don’t eat junk food. I feel better when I feel I made a difference to somebody that day. I feel happier when I’ve shown gratitude or had a great conversation with a friend. These are aspects of my life I recognised over time as I tracked my mood every day through journaling. It’s a simple exercise for even the most time-strapped individual to adopt.
Concluding Remarks
I’ve finished writing my work on self-reflection and it’s been a helpful reminder that self-reflection allows us to pursue self-growth and self-understanding, both of which are elements of life that help me feel satisfied when I pursue them. I hope many of these points can help aid your own self-reflection. Even though I’ve finished my work of self-reflection, I have again written too much. So you’ll receive the final 8 points to aid self-reflection next week. Good things come to those who wait!
I’ve never done the big 5 personality test so I will definitely give it’s a go! That’s very interesting. I imagine it’s very likely that if we seek growth and change in our lives, then we do change personality type over our lifetimes. Although I’d assume some elements of the test are easier to change in ourselves than others and will depend on how close to 50% we sit on the scales. Thank you for your comment Malik!
I recently read somewhere that the big 5 personality test is more accurate (empirically) than the Myers-Brigg test. And funny enough, I used to be an INTP and years later became an ISTJ. Great post!