Let’s Reflect
Cathy Shuter is a wellbeing-focused writer and coach with a background in special education. She has published over thirty books and founded Cathy’s Wellbeing Club, a community-driven initiative promoting connection, creativity, and compassion. Her vision is to open an inclusive seaside wellbeing center offering workshops, arts, coaching, and a vegetarian café. Learn more at www.cathyswellbeingclub.co.uk and www.trustylifecoaching.co.uk.
There are key times in the year that offer us time to pause, rest, and reflect. Reflection is a crucial part of our lives.
I use an evidence journal to record progress on my goals. I write down what is going well, along with the challenges.
Do you keep a diary or journal? Do you find it helps you to reflect on your life?
Let me explain how journaling has helped me to achieve my goals and how following this approach can help you too.
At the start of each year, I decide upon key themes I wish to explore.
In January, I recorded the following affirmations:
- I am safe.
- I am enough.
- I also recorded the Ho’oponopono phrase, “I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you.”
- I decided that focusing on these areas would help me to thrive in the year ahead.
- I chose areas of my life to work on, too.
I decided to:
- Read and write more.
- Improve my mobility.
- Reduce impulse spending.
- Declutter my home.
Course Correction:
Every three months, I reflect on my journal notes to identify what is going well and any challenges I have encountered. This allows me to make small changes to my goals and strategies if needed.
The end of the year is a great time to deeply explore how we really feel about key aspects of our lives, focus on new themes, and set new goals.
These are some useful self-reflection questions that you can ask yourself:
- What am I grateful for?
- What has been challenging recently?
- What have I learned from the mistakes I have made this year?
- Who else could benefit from what I have learned?
Reflecting on our emotions can help us identify triggers and appreciate the joyful moments in our lives.
Reflecting can help us improve our relationships and establish boundaries when needed.
Reflecting can bring us out of our comfort zone, and that is where we grow.
Reflection can involve periodically rating aspects of our lives.
WHISPERS Wheels can help here:
In my book Anatole And The Wheel Of Whispers-It All Begins With You!, I invite you to imagine a wheel with eight spokes. Each spoke represents one area of your life.
Rate how you feel about these aspects of your life out of 10:
- W-Work
- H-Home Life
- I-Interests
- S-Security (Including finances)
- P-Physical
- E-Emotional
- R-Relationships
- S- Spirituality/Religion
This exercise can help you assess the areas of life that are working well, and you can choose to focus on one or two areas you would like to improve by setting goals.
Using the wheels to rate your life and set goals is a great way to reflect on what is going well and what you would like to change.
This exercise can be repeated every few months and really supports the reflection process.
TAKE ACTION: Learn more about Cathy’s books by visiting her Amazon author page, and follow her work on her Facebook coaching page. She regularly posts hints and tips to help people progress with their goals. She’s also happy to work with people individually if they get in touch.
"Reflecting can help us improve our relationships and establish boundaries when needed."
Cathy Shuter is a wellbeing-focused writer and coach with a background in special education. She has published over thirty books and founded Cathy’s Wellbeing Club, a community-driven initiative promoting connection, creativity, and compassion. Her vision is to open an inclusive seaside wellbeing center offering workshops, arts, coaching, and a vegetarian café.
Read more from Cathy Shuter or connect with her on Substack, Facebook (Trusty Life Coaching, Cathy Shuter, and Cathy Shuter), Instagram, or her websites (www.cathyswellbeingclub.co.uk and www.trustylifecoaching.co.uk).
