My greatest learning during this pandemic

When was the last time you self-reflected on your career/ life? Was it at the end of December when you were getting ready to welcome the new year, right?

Honestly, I have never ever recognised the importance of self-reflection and the impact it could have on my life until Covid-19 hit us. With my L&D hat on I have always been busy trying to help others develop that I rarely took a moment to slow down myself and dive deeper to reflect, and believe me this has opened up a whole new world to me.

“Self-reflection is a humbling process. It’s essential to find out why you think, say, and do certain things… then better yourself’” Sonya Teclai

How have I been self-reflecting over the last 2 years?

Meditating

I sit in silence at least 20-25 min everyday early morning and those moments of silence works as a refresh button for my mind.

Diving deeper

I talk to myself out loud by asking hard questions that I would normally avoid, allowing me to dive deeper.
• Am I moving in the right direction?
• Am I spending my time with people that encourage me to be the best version of myself?
• How can I add value in other’s lives both personally and professionally?
• Am I a better version of myself today?

Daily reflection

I spend 10 minutes every day on self-reflection. This is generally at end of the day, and I focus mostly on the behaviours I exhibited during the day.

Asking for help

If I need help working through a situation or the emotions I am feeling, I ask a colleague, anyone in my family, a friend or someone in my external network to help me work through it. I absolutely have no shame in asking for help.

How is self-reflection helping me?

• Discovering a beautiful connection with myself
• Understanding my purpose and potential
• Facing my fears and focus on one small improvement every day
• Focussing to move from the learning paradigm to business paradigm
• Developing an attitude of gratitude

Now it’s your turn to self-reflect

Just a few minutes a day could potentially help you to know yourself better and open a lot of new opportunities for you. What are you waiting for? Share how have you been taking time to look back and reflect on your actions and life.

I would like to end by reflecting on the last 6 months and offer my gratitude to the L&D Mastermind by providing me a psychologically safe space to bounce my ideas off and get the daily learning nuggets from the lovely people in the group.

Rinku Raina, ICF Certified Coach | Assoc CIPD 
Learning and Development Manager, Cambridge University Information Services